GP Québec on Friday and GP Montréal on Sunday bring the rainbow-jersey contenders together two weeks before the World Championships road race on September 27. With defending champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) absent from Worlds, the weekend will give the favourites a clearer idea of how the race may unfold without the current world champion.
Québec’s 206km rewards punch and positioning across 20 laps. The 600m Côte de la Montagne averages 9%, demanding repeated accelerations before the rising finish. Preserving a sprint would be key, but it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility for a solo rider to win, as the now-retired Julian Alaphilippe did from the break last year.
Montréal is the clear main dress rehearsal: 214.4km over 16 laps of the 13.4km Mount Royal circuit, including Camillien-Houde’s 1.8km at 8%. Those same roads form the Worlds’ 12 finishing laps. However, the championship begins in Brossard and covers roughly 273km. Sunday has more climbing, approximately 4,304m against 3,803m, while Worlds demands endurance over a longer approach.
The performances to watch
Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates XRG) arrives having won the Deutschland Tour prologue and having finished seventh at his first elite Worlds last year. He is probably UAE’s best chance to retain the rainbow bands without Pogačar, but it will be interesting to see what his form is like after a long season. Québec will test his legs before Montréal, which suits him more.
Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) won his only race since the Tour de France, Donostia San Sebastián Klasikoa. He has worked on his punch and is now one of the fastest of the traditional GC riders. He does appear to prefer going solo still, though. Montréal will favour that more than Québec, which isn’t as tough as the circuit that will be used for the Worlds.
Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) makes his Canadian debut after finishing 13th at last year’s Worlds. The 19-year-old is one rider who absolutely could shine brightly on these courses. He would likely want to win alone, but has shown the skills needed to challenge in a reduced bunch dash if needed.
Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) brings ninth place at the Tour and a fresh mountain-bike cross-country world title. He has also won on his road racing return at the GP Industria & Artigianato in Italy. Many journalists and fans have put Pidcock at the very top of their favourites list for the rainbow jersey but he will face very tough opposition. If he is able to better them over the coming weekend, then he will feel like he has a huge opportunity.
Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates XRG) won last year’s Montréal race. Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), third in that race, has Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) alongside him, giving their team options to attack rather than chase UAE. Matteo Jorgenson (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) is another talented threat. Michael Matthews (Team Jayco AlUla) has three Québec victories; surviving Sunday’s heavier climbing would be a much tougher test. Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) can test rivals from distance, while Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) gives the team an attacking option before Evenepoel commits.
The contenders preparing elsewhere
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) will instead ride the Tour de Luxembourg on September 16–20, his team confirmed. His focus is to get more road racing under his belt after his failed attempt to win the world title in the XC Mountain Biking, won by Pidcock.
Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) have taken the Vuelta route. Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos) is also racing in Spain, where a stage-12 crash disrupted his campaign. They will arrive with more racing in their legs and less time to recover.
Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) are another duo in Spain who have both been on fine form. However, will the final Grand Tour of the year put in them in good stead for the worlds or will is deaden their legs? Brennan even being at the race on September 25 is still up in the air.
It does mean that these two Canadian races have become even bigger than previous years with a Canadian worlds just over the horizon.
