Five storylines to watch at the GP de Québec and GP de Montréal

The Grand Prix Cyclistes de Montréal et Québec have been positioned as World Championships preparation races ever since they were added to the calendar in 2010, but this year’s expedition to Canada marks a break with that modern tradition.

The Worlds have already been and gone and so, for one year only, the Canadian races stand alone rather than doubling as a dress rehearsal for rainbow jersey contenders. That quirk of the calendar means that the stardust on the start list is sprinkled a little lighter than in years past, but the field remains a deep one.

“Some people are saying the biggest stars haven’t come this year, but the big riders always come here,” organiser Sebastien Arsenault insisted in Québec on Wednesday. “It’s a who’s who of cycling, and there are important WorldTour points on offer too.”

Indeed, now in their twelfth editions, the Quebecois races have long since earned the right to be considered lofty prizes in their own right. The faces in the queue for the charter flight from Charles De Gaulle airport on Tuesday morning confirmed as much, with Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep), Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe), Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) and Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla) among those making the trek across the Atlantic.

Ahead of Friday and Saturday’s races, Cyclingnews looks at some of the key trends to follow in Canada.

Arnaud De Lie seeks first WorldTour win

Even before the recent ructions over Caleb Ewan’s status, it was already apparent that the future of Lotto-Dstny would be built around Arnaud De Lie, and the Belgian’s recent, lengthy contract extension only underlined the point.

The 21-year-old has impressed early and often over his two years as a professional to date. He hit the ground running with victory at the Trofeo Playa de Palma at the start of last season and he has barely let up since. His rapid finish has carried him to sixteen professional wins, and counting, while he has highlighted his potential on the cobbles with second place on his Omloop Het Nieuwsblad debut in February.

It seems clear that the farmer’s son from Libramont is destined for bigger and better things in the years ahead, and so it feels almost an aberration that he has yet to pick up a victory at WorldTour level. He has had some near misses, including at the Renewi Tour last month, and it is surely only a matter of time before he rectifies the anomaly.

Friday’s GP de Québec, with its gently climbing finale on the Grande Allée, presents an obvious opportunity for De Lie to score his first win in the top flight. It’s not by chance that Lotto-Dstny opted to send the youngster here rather than to his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta a España. He arrived in Canada meaning business.

Jumbo-Visma’s third front

It is not, admittedly, a contest that inspires much interest from the cycling public at large, but the battle for the top spot in the UCI team rankings continues into the final weeks of the season. Jumbo-Visma have won two Grand Tours so far in 2023, but the Dutch squad was dislodged from the summit of the standings in recent weeks after Tim Wellens scored Renewi Tour victory for UAE Team Emirates.

For the time being, both squads are relatively evenly matched at the Vuelta a España, each with three riders in the GC mix as the race approaches its midpoint. Jumbo-Visma, however, will hope to claw back some points both at the Tour of Britain, where Olav Kooij has been imperious, and in Canada, where Christophe Laporte and Tiesj Benoot line up with ambition.

Laporte was a low-key figure at last weekend’s Bretagne Classic, but the Frenchman is an obvious favourite for the GP de Québec, particularly in the absence of Wout van Aert. Benoot, meanwhile, will expect to figure on the hillier terrain of Montréal. UAE Team Emirates, mind, haven’t neglected the Canadian races, with Adam Yates, Brandon McNulty and the on-form Marc Hirschi all featuring in a deep roster this weekend.

Alaphilippe and a season to save

2023 has not gone to plan for Julian Alaphilippe. There have been flashes of inspiration, namely at the Ardèche Classic and at the Critérium du Dauphiné, but since his horrific crash at +last year’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Frenchman has yet to recapture the vim that carried him to back-to-back world titles.

For much of this season, Alaphilippe has also found himself fending off questions about his future amid some thinly veiled criticism from Soudal-QuickStep manager Patrick Lefevere   even though, as he reminded reporters in Québec on Wednesday, he still has a year of his existing contract to run.

Alaphilippe was an aggressive presence at the Tour de France, even if his endeavour there never came close to yielding a stage win, but he made little impression at the Glasgow World Championships. “It was very important to stop after the Worlds and take a little break, I needed that,” he explained on arriving in Canada.

He returned to action last weekend with a subdued showing at the Bretagne Classic, but the Canadian races present a clearer opportunity to salvage something tangible from an ill-starred year. “I hope to find a level that will allow me to perform between now and my last races,” explained Alaphilippe, who will also line out at the Tour of Luxembourg and the Italian Classics, culminating with Il Lombardia.

The two-time world champion isn’t the only rider in Canada on a similar mission. Biniam Girmay’s crash-scarred season hasn’t yielded as much as anticipated either, while Alberto Bettiol is still looking to crown his campaign with a result of note, and the Italian’s spirited World Championships display offers reason for hope. Benoît Cosnefroy, winner in Québec a year ago, will also look to put a different slant on his campaign.

Mohoric looks to continue late-season surge

Nothing quite seemed to fall into place for Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) in the Spring. The Slovenian was consistently threatening on the cobbles but he always seemed to miss a step at the crucial moment and was forced to watch in frustration as the key moves formed without him.

The mood music has changed considerably in the second half of the season, beginning with his stage win on the final day of the Tour of Slovenia in June. Mohorič built on that foundation to claim a memorable victory in Poligny in the final week of the Tour, and he has continued in a similar vein in the weeks since, claiming overall victory at the Tour de Pologne and adding an impressive win on the final stage of the Renewi Tour.

Mohorič has been the man of the moment over the past month or so – his decision to skip the Glasgow Worlds seems ever more questionable, despite his understandable misgivings about the route – and it would be no surprise if he continued that run in Canada. His track record in Québec and Montréal is underwhelming, but at this point in the year, form and motivation can carry a man a long, long way, regardless of the parcours.

2026 vision

Even in this novel season, it still proves impossible to come to the province of Québec without a thought for the World Championships. Montréal will host the 2026 Road Worlds, after all, and more extensive details about the event will be announced on Saturday afternoon.

The precise configuration of the course remains to be seen, but it seems difficult to imagine that the 2026 Worlds could possibly bypass Mount Royal Park, the centrepiece of the GP de Montréal – and, of course, of the 1974 Worlds and 1976 Olympics. To borrow from José Mourinho, this is a circuit steeped in cycling heritage.

Canada will be the centre of the cycling universe in the Autumn of 2026, with the GP de Québec and GP de Montréal taking place two weeks before the men’s road race. No Worlds in history will have had a dress rehearsal quite like it. But already now, three years in advance, it will be hard to watch Sunday’s race without projecting towards the big day in 2026.