In the second act of Canada’s WorldTour racing, Wout van Aert, Tadej Pogačar, Michael Matthews, Peter Sagan, Biniam Girmay and Alberto Bettiol meet at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal on Sunday.
It’s their last duel before this year’s Road World Championships in Australia and the hilly circuit race in Montreal should give a real indication of their hopes for the rainbow jersey and each rider’s strengths and weaknesses ahead of the world title fight on Sunday 25th September.
The many European riders who traveled to Canada for the two races traveled by bus from foggy Quebec to Montreal on Saturday morning. They soon got on their bikes to shake their legs and take a look at the undulating 12.2km circuit around the Parc du Mont-Royal, which gives the town its name.
On Friday, Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R-Citroen) surprised everyone with a late solo attack and a great performance to win the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec. The bigger names all had to fight for the podium places and regret missing out on victory.
While the Quebec race caters to aggressive baroudeur riders like Cosnefroy or fast-moving classic riders like Matthews, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal is more akin to an Ardennes classic and is therefore likely to produce more open races and much earlier.
The 221.4 km long race distance includes 4842 meters of altitude, almost 2000 meters more than the race in Québec. The 12.2 km route has considerable cycling heritage. Eddy Merckx and Geneviève Gambillon won historic rainbow jerseys at the 1974 World Championships and two years later Bernt Johansson defeated Giuseppe Martinelli at the Olympics. There was no women’s race while the Soviet Union won the 100 km team time trial. Montreal has bid to host the 2026 Road World Championships in hopes of celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1976 Olympics.
The 12.2km course around the Parc du Mont-Royal features three climbs and a short kick to the finish line for a total of 263m in each lap.
Riders climb 1.8km at 8% to the summit of the Côte Camillien-Houde in the center of the park, then descend onto the city streets before climbing the Côte de Polytechnique (780m at 6%, inclusive part of 11%). .
With three kilometers to go there is an 800 meter kick-up on Boulevard Mont Royal and a sweeping descent and U-turn into the uphill home straight on Avenue du Parc.
An aggressive finale
When the race was held for the last time before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, Greg van Avermaet won the dash to the line, but only after 30km of aggressive racing and a series of attacks.
Dan Martin started, Nans Peters was also aggressive and they were joined by Michael Woods and Enric Mas before Mitchelton-Scott chased them away. Cosnefroy attacked with Tim Wellens on the final lap, but Peter Sagan and then Julian Alaphilippe got to Cosnefroy. However, Alaphilippe tagged his French rival, allowing a select group to come their way and sprint Van Avermaet to victory.
The 2019 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal remains the last win for the experienced Belgian. The COVID-19 pandemic forced a two-year hiatus for Canadian racing and also gave birth to a new young generation of drivers. Van Aert finished 13th in Quebec on Friday, the same time as all the top chasers, and could therefore be a contender on Sunday but he needs to respond to the attacks.
Pogačar was thrown out of position in the final kilometers in Quebec but is looking for revenge and knows the hillier Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal suits him much better.
“The Grand Prix Québec doesn’t have enough climbing for me, but on Sunday in Montréal we’ll have to climb more. That should suit me better, it’s similar to what awaits me in Wollongong at the World Cup and is an important test for everyone in Canada,” said Pogačar.
Van Aert was disappointed to miss out on victory in Quebec and clearly wants a victory to boost morale before heading to Australia for the World Championships.
“I think it’s a tougher race. There will probably be more guys like Pogačar and Bardet and Gaudu. The real climbers will get closer to victory there,” he predicted, his incredible talent making him a sprinter, baroudeur and climber.
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