A number of riders have spent the past two days posting pictures on their respective social media accounts showing the castle like hotel they have been staying at in Québec City, clearly a level up from what they are used to at many events. I've never been to the Québec City race, though the city looks beautiful with the race going right through the middle of the old part of the city, with a lot of fans at the sides of the road. I really must make the trip to do the double header sometime rather than just the Montréal race. The idea of sitting on one of the patios of those street side pubs watching the race go by all afternoon is very appealing indeed!
This weekend though I will head up to Montréal for the third straight year to watch the race. It's as tough a one-day non-Monument World Tour race that there is: 17 laps of a 12.1km course in which they go up and over the 1.8km Côte Camilien-Houde with an average gradient of 8%, and the 780m, 6% Côte de la Polytechnique each time for a total distance of 205.7km and elevation of 3,893m. And the Québec race isn't a lot easier with 16 laps of a 12.6km circuit for 201.6km of racing and 2,976m of climbing.
Both races are also superb tune-up events ahead of the World Championships with the Montréal race coming exactly two weeks before the road-race this year in Richmond and there are a number of riders who will hope to win the championships who will also take part this weekend. Below are ten names to look out for that should make an impact in one way or another.
#1 Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-Quick Step)
The reigning World Champion will have the rainbow colours on full display in Quebec and both courses are ideally suited to him. He could win on either day or indeed do what Simon Gerrans did last year and win on both. Gerrans for the record is not riding in Quebec this year.
#2 Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-Quick Step)
The Quick Step team have an extremely strong line-up and while Kwiatkowski will lead, they will have other cards to play should things not work out for the Pole. One of those is Alaphilippe who has had a breakout year this season. 2nd in both La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège as well as 2nd overall at the Tour of California, the circuits here, especially Montréal, look made for the Frenchman.
#61 Philippe Gilbert (BMC)
Always a threat on these kind of courses, especially when he's lining up a bid for the World Championships. We all know about his haul of victories in 2011 but Gilbert has had a solid 2015 winning two stages of the Giro and taking 2nd a the Clásica de San Sebastián. And he has history in Québec, a course ideally suited to his style, having won it in 2011.
#77 Adam Yates (Orica GreenEDGE)
I always get Adam and his twin brother Simon mixed up. Both are fine riders though I think the climbing in Montréal might suit the likes of Adam more and he's coming in with good form by coming 2nd in the Tour of Alberta and winning the climbing classification.
#81 Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale)
6th at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, not to mention his stage win and 9th overall at Le Tour and contention for the King of the Mountains, Bardet is a superb young talent who seems to enjoy the one-day events as well as the big Tours. A superb descender, Bardet might like the run-in at Montréal.
#88 Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R La Mondiale)
Team-mate of Bardet, Vuillermoz may be even more suited to either race in Québec or Montréal. The former mountain biker has had a breakout season on the road this year when he won the 8th stage of the Tour de France up the Mûr-de-Bretagne and was 3rd on the stage up the Mur de Huy. Neither race in Canada will finish on such a climb but there are the kind of climbs he will enjoy.
#101 Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida)
Costa likes these races. He won the Montréal event in 2011 and has finished in the top ten of both on six occasions including a 2nd in Montréal in 2014. He won the World Championship in 2013 after finishing 5th and 6th in Québec and Montréal respectively and will be hoping for a similar such performance ahead of Richmond 2015 this time around.
#121 Bauke Mollema (Trek Factory Racing)
After finishing 9th overall at the Tour de France, Mollema came to Canada and won the Tour of Alberta so he's in superb form and has mentioned that he is targeting a win in Quebec before heading to Richmond to play a helping roll for the Dutch team. His form has rarely been better so expect him to feature prominently this weekend.
#141 Ryder Hesjedal (Cannondale-Garmin)
The home-country hero, Hesjedal has said he is coming to Québec and Montréal to try and win. It's likely his last big race of the season and given he is leaving his Connondale-Garmin team at the end of the season he will be looking to go out on a high. He used the Tour of Alberta as a good tune-up and will look to give the Canadian fans something to shout about like in Montréal 2013 when he made a late bid to win only for Sagan to come out on top.
#151 Robert Gesink (Lotto NL-Jumbo)
The Dutchman is taking these two races very seriously indeed, and why not, other than Simon Gerrans he's the only man to have won both races before (2010 in Montréal, 2013 in Québec City - his last World Tour victory). He has also finished 2nd (2011) and 3rd (2012) in Québec and this year he's been in the Québec City area longer than any other rider, training and getting ready for what he hopes will be further success.
One local rider to look out for...
#208 Mike Woods (Team Canada)
Woods is from Ottawa, just 90 minutes up the road from Montréal and will be hoping to build on his superb form of late after having signed a contract for next season with Cannondale-Garmin. Woods is a late arrival to cycling; a promising middle-distance runner he had his career cut short by injury before turning to the bike and only becoming a professional at the age of 25 in 2013. Since then he has gone from strength to strength, and this year he finished 2nd at the Tour of Utah (with a stage win) and 10th at the Tour of Alberta (best Canadian). He won't win this weekend, but he could feature in a break or indeed on the climbs in the final laps when the action really kicks off.
Past winners:
| Year | Québec City | Montréal |
| 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 | Thomas Voeckler Philippe Gilbert Simon Gerrans Robert Gesink Simon Gerrans | Robert Gesink Rui Costa Lars Petter Nordhaug Peter Sagan Simon Gerrans |
Predictions:
Québec: 1. Julian Alaphilippe, 2. Philippe Gilbert, 3. Alexis Vuillermoz.
Montréal: 1. Robert Gesink, 2. Ryder Hesjedal, 3. Rui Costa.
