Wout van Aert absolutely loved training in Montreal
The Belgian had a great ride leading up to the race
Photo by:
Wout van Aert/Strava
Although Wout van Aert didn’t take take a victory at Les Grands Prix Quebec et Montréal, it sounded like he had a great time riding in la belle province.
On Sunday WorldTour racing returned to Montreal for the first time in three years. The 11th Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal made its way around Mont Royal Park and the racing was exciting as ever. In his last race as a pro, Canada’s Antoine Duchesne rode all day in the break, ultimately taking the King of the Mountains prize.
In the end, it was Slovenian Tadej Pogačar who would beat Wout Van Aert in a sprint out of a group of five for the win. Guillaume Boivin (Canada/Israel-Premier Tech) would be top Canuck, coming in at 37th.
What an intense finale! @TamauPogi did not miss his opportunity to score his first win in Canada! Relive his sprint ?
Quel final intense après une course aussi dure ! Tadej n'a pas manqué l'occasion de s'imposer au Canada. ?#GPCQM pic.twitter.com/v7ox4y4uAS
— GPCQM (@GPCQM) September 11, 2022
On Saturday, the Belgian went out for a 58 km ride to loosen up his legs for the big race, riding from downtown Montreal to the South Shore and back. And it sounds like he had a great time.
“Gotta love riding in a big city when it has bike paths like Montreal, Canada,” van Aert posted on his Strava.
The Jumbo-Visma rider is not the first to praise Quebec’s largest city’s cycling infrastructure. Earlier this year, PeopleForBikes released its annual list of the best cities for cycling and Montreal was number one in the major cities category. Montreal was eighth overall, but first in major cities in the rankings. In the points rankings system. La belle ville finished scored 65 points, ahead of Brooklyn at 63 and San Francisco at 61. Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante echoed the sentiment about riding in Montreal on Twitter.
“Montreal has been named the first major cycling city in North America in the annual ranking of People For Bikes,” she posted. “A city that makes room for cycling is a city where life is good!”
