The WorldTour leaves Europe 7 months later
The top division of men's world cycling, the UCI WorldTour (UWT), consists of 35 races that are supposed to take cyclists around the world. However, due to very important historical reasons in our sport, only 6 of these 35 races take place outside the European continent, and they do so at the start and end of the season. In January and February, the Australian races Santos Tour Down Under and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, and the UAE Tour in the Middle East, are the UWT's opening events. Since then, all the action has been concentrated in Europe until this coming Friday, when the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec will take place in Canada.
The Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec, along with its inseparable twin, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, held on Sunday, are two young races created in 2010. Even so, with their own unique identity based on highly recognizable circuits, they have become a highly anticipated and attractive event for both fans and cyclists, many of whom use it to prepare for the World Championships. Proof of this is that the starting lists include a multitude of great cyclists, led by the megastar Tadej Pogačar (1200).
Courses
Both races take place entirely on local circuits. In the case of the race in Québec City, there will be 16 laps of a 12.6 km circuit that includes three small climbs. The total elevation gain for the day is 2416 meters.
Regarding the Montréal race, it is clearly more demanding than Friday's race, covering 218 kilometers and 3800 meters of total elevation gain over the 17 laps of the course. The côte de Camillien-Houde (2.3 km at 6.3%) is the main challenge of the circuit.
Favorites
The presence of Tadej Pogačar (1200) makes him the clear favorite for both races, although Sunday's race likely suits him better, as he demonstrated by winning it two years ago. Other important names who will be in action in both races include Juan Ayuso (1200), Matteo Jorgenson (1000), Biniam Girmay (1000), Jay Hindley (1000), Simon Yates (1000), Romain Bardet (800), Alex Aranburu (800), Magnus Sheffield (600), Derek Gee (800), Santiago Buitrago (800), Michael Matthews (800), Julian Alaphilippe (600), Arnaud de Lie (800), Matej Mohorič (600), or Ben Healy (400), to name a few.
Photo: © Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec et de Montréal