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Pogačar, Alaphilippe, Pidcock to headline Canadian races

An exceptional lineup coming to Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec et de Montréal

Pogačar, Alaphilippe, Pidcock to headline Canadian races

On Sept. 13 and 15, the Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec et de Montréal will host an exceptional lineup of riders, including Tour de France stars like Tadej Pogačar, Biniam Girmay, Derek Gee, and Romain Bardet. This year’s events boast their strongest field ever, with 24 teams and 168 riders from across the globe, including all 18 UCI WorldTeams and 5 invited ProTeams: Israel – Premier Tech, Lotto Dstny, Uno-X Mobility, Tudor Pro Cycling Team, Team Novo Nordisk, and the Canadian national team.

Big names coming to Canada

Notable names announced for the races include Pogačar from Slovenia (UAE Team Emirates), who has won the Tour de France in 2020, 2021, and 2024, as well as the 2024 Giro d’Italia and the 2022 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal. Girmay of Eritrea (Intermarché-Wanty) secured the points classification and triumphed in three stages of the 2024 Tour de France, finishing third in the 2022 Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec. Arnaud De Lie from Belgium (Lotto Dstny), who clinched the 2023 Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and is the current Belgian national champion, will also compete.

Julian Alaphilippe of France (Soudal Quick-Step), a two-time UCI road world champion in 2020 and 2021, will race, as will Michael Matthews from Australia (Team Jayco AlUla), a two-time Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec winner and the Montréal race victor in 2018, with ten grand tour stage victories to his name. Thomas Pidcock from Great Britain (INEOS Grenadiers), a double Olympic Mountain Bike champion and 2023 Mountain Bike world champion, will join Valentin Madouas of France (Groupama-FDJ), an Olympic road race silver medalist, and Romain Bardet of France (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL), who has won four stages at the Tour de France.

The roster also includes notable riders such as Benoît Cosnefroy (France, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team), the 2022 Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec winner; Matteo Jorgenson (United States, Team Visma | Lease a Bike), victor of Paris-Nice 2024; Paul Lapeira (France, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team), the current French national champion; Matej Mohoric (Slovenia, Team Bahrain Victorious); Simon Yates (Great Britain, Team Jayco AlUla), the 2018 Vuelta a España winner; Alberto Bettiol (Italy, Astana Qazaqstan Team), the current Italian national champion; and Kévin Vauquelin (France, Arkéa-B&B Hotels), a stage winner at the 2024 Tour de France.

Plenty of your favourite Canadians

The Canadian riders include Gee (Israel – Premier Tech), who secured ninth place in this year’s Tour de France, won a stage, and finished third in the general classification at the 2024 Critérium du Dauphiné, in addition to being a two-time national time trial champion. Hugo Houle (Israel – Premier Tech), who made history as the first Québécois to win a Tour de France stage in 2023, and Guillaume Boivin (Israel – Premier Tech), a three-time national road champion, will also compete. Michael Leonard (INEOS Grenadiers), who triumphed in the prologue of the 2024 Tour de l’Avenir, adds to the strong lineup. Alongside these riders, a Canadian national team of emerging talents will be taking on the best in the world.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the 1974 World Cycling Championships, the first held outside Europe. This milestone honours Eddy Merckx, who secured his third title, and Frenchwoman Geneviève Gambillon, the women’s champion. The UCI Road World Championships will be held in Montréal in September 2026.

When Merckx won in Montréal, he became the first rider to achieve cycling’s triple crown—winning the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France, and the road worlds. Since then, only one other cyclist, Stephen Roche, has accomplished this feat, in 1987. Pogačar aims to become the third rider to do so, using the Canadian races as preparation for his attempt at the rainbow jersey.