GPCQM cancelled for 2020

The eleventh editions of the Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec and de Montréal scheduled for September 11 and 13 have been cancelled due to organizational problems amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

A press release from organizers said that the 2020 editions were annulled because “it would be impossible to fulfill all of the health and organizational requirements needed to guarantee a safe and secure environment for everyone.” The release also stated that the Critérium national de Montréal on September 12 was cancelled.

UCI head David Lappartient was supportive of the move: “I understand the reasons for this difficult decision by the organizers of the Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec et de Montréal to cancel these two races for 2020, while of course regretting that they will be absent from this season’s UCI WorldTour calendar. These events, the only ones at this level to be held in the Americas, have been eagerly anticipated by the riders and by all cycling fans every year for the past ten years, and they contribute to the popularity of our sport well beyond Canada’s borders.”

Canadian GPs cancelled.

Logical decision considering that calendar clashed them during TDF and Tirreno and intercontinental flights during pandemic are not the best option.

— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) July 23, 2020

We can't wait for the @GPCQM to return in 2021 on September 10 and 12! pic.twitter.com/yR3WRYkL25

— Cycling Canada (@CyclingCanada) July 23, 2020

Michael Matthews, Peter Sagan and Simon Gerrans have all won the Quebec race twice, while Greg van Avermaet is the only rider to have taken more than one victory in Montreal. Ryder Hesjedal was third two times in Montreal.

The revised WorldTour schedule–with World Championships–now looks like this:

August 1: Strade Bianche
August 5-9: Tour de Pologne
August 8: Milan-San Remo
August 15: Il Lombardia
August 12-16: Critérium du Dauphiné
August 16: Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic
August 25: Bretagne Classic–Ouest-France
August 29-September 20: Tour de France
September 7-14: Tirreno-Adriatico
SEPTEMBER 20: UCI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ELITE MEN TT
SEPTEMBER 27: UCI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ELITE MEN RR
September 29-October 3: BinckBank Tour
September 30: La Flèche Wallonne
October 3-25: Giro d’Italia
October 4: Liège-Bastogne-Liège
October 10: Amstel Gold Race
October 11: Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields
October 14: Dwars door Vlaanderen
October 18: Tour of Flanders
October 20–November 8: Vuelta a España
October 21: Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne
October 25: Paris-Roubaix
November 5-10: Gree–Tour of Guangxi