A big World Championships warm-up where Pogačar's absence opens the field significantly – Riders to watch at the Grands Prix de Québec and Montréal

Men's WorldTour one-day racing resumes this week with the Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec and Montréal, which carry even more importance and intrigue as they come just two weeks before the UCI Road World Championships road race, which will be held on the same course in Montréal.

As a result, many of the World Championships' favourites have prioritised coming early to check out the course in Sunday's race in Montréal, which will practically a Worlds road test event, missing only a few of the main contenders and hopefully making for a very exciting pair of races.

What's even more intriguing is that this year, two-time Montréal winner and indeed the defending world champion Tadej Pogačar won't be in action in either the GPs or the World Championships, which makes for a much more open field where most of his key one-day rivals and closest competitors will be fighting it out for the win.

The races

Kicking off the weekend of racing on Friday, the GP de Québec is the flatter and more sprinter-friendly of the two, taking in 206km worth of circuits around Québec City. The main feature of the 10.3km circuit is the Côte de la Montagne, whose name is perhaps misleading – it's only 600m long, and whilst it is steep in parts, it only takes the riders up 56m of elevation. That is quickly followed by the shallower (3%) 1km climb of Rue Saint-Louis, for a total of 139m of elevation per lap, which adds up to 2,780m of elevation in total.

The peloton will take on these climbs and the lap 20 times, which will certainly take its toll, but is easy enough that many of the heartier sprinters and puncheurs can survive. Whilst solo attackers can succeed here – as Julian Alaphilippe did in 2025 – it's also not unusual to see the race decided by a larger bunch gallop, which is how Michael Matthews has won three editions here.

Things ramp up in difficulty for Sunday's GP de Montréal, which has been tweaked for 2026 to more closely resemble the route for the World Championships, and features 1,600m more elevation gain. The peloton will take on 16 laps of the 13.4km circuit in Montreal for a total 214km race length, with four distinct ascents per lap.

The first climb is the hardest, with the Voie Camilien-Houde coming in at 1.8km with an average of 8%, followed by three shorter ramps, including sections of over 11% on the Chemin de Polytechnique. Though there is 'only' 269m of elevation per lap on the urban course, that adds up to over 4,300m elevation gain in total, but it's the constant repetition of the climbs which will make this course so difficult. Every lap is a test, and indeed every climb is a chance for a rider to attack and get away, and perhaps not be caught.

From the puncheurs for Friday's race in Quebec to the climbers primed for a pre-Worlds test on Sunday, here are Cyclingnews' key riders to watch this week in Canada.

Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM)

The young Frenchman has had an extraordinary season at just 19 years of age, and the big question now is how much more spectacular it could yet end up. Will Seixas recapture his one-day form of the Spring, which could genuinely catapult him to an elite world title just three days after his 20th birthday? Or will the fatigue that showed at the Tour de France see him unable to rediscover that sparkling form and momentum before a proper off-season reset?

The Seixas of the Spring was something to behold – a teenager winning La Flèche Wallonne and ending as the best of the rest behind Tadej Pogačar at Strade Bianche and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, not to mention his domination of Itzulia Basque Country in between. Seixas was fast-tracked towards a Tour de France debut, and although he didn’t have the same action-packed impact, fourth place overall on debut as a 19-year-old was still, let’s not forget, a scarcely believable achievement.

The thing is, the Tour was already a hugely taxing undertaking for one so young, and the wisdom of the decision to participate was heavily contested. The physical toll of a three-week race so young, not to mention the mental toll that came with being the hugely hyped home star, leaves something of an unknown as to the heights he can build back up towards in this final part of the season.

It would hardly be a surprise to see his season fizzle out, but he has surprised us so many times already that you wouldn’t put it past him to recapture that Spring form. These two races should tell us more, but if he does, we could genuinely be looking at the crowning of a world champion three days after his 20th birthday. (PF)

Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)

The absence of Tadej Pogačar is the main talking point in the sport right now, and Isaac del Toro steps into the leadership void left by the world champion this week. The Mexican has established himself as an understudy with his Pogačar-assisted Tour de France podium and his subsequent long-term contract extension at UAE. And like Pogačar, he can shine in Grand Tours and one-day Classics.

He won nine one-day races last year, and this year he was third at Strade Bianche after sandbagging the Pogačar-pursuing Seixas and showing the decency not to try and out-sprint him at the end.

Del Toro has already made a successful post-Tour comeback, with an overall victory at the Deutschland Tour. Add it to his WorldTour GC titles at UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico, and Tour Auvergne-Rhône Alpes – plus, of course, his Tour podium – and you’re looking at one of the great seasons of recent memory. With a lightning acceleration, strong climbing legs, and increasing race craft, it could get even better, both here and at Worlds.

It’s also worth pointing out that, even in Pogačar’s absence, UAE have a stacked team, and that the likes of Tim Wellens, Brandon McNulty, Adam Yates and Jhonatan Narvaez will all have the opportunity and licence to get amongst it. Indeed, McNulty won Montréal last year after breaking away with Pogačar. Narvaez had an incredible Giro in May, and Wellens, despite not wanting to ride Worlds, is bang in form after winning the Tour of Britain. (PF)

Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)

Of all the riders in the world, the one who should be most excited about the prospect of a Pogačar-less autumn is Remco Evenepoel. After all, the Belgian was the runner-up behind the Slovenian at World Championships, European Championships, and Il Lombardia last autumn – all with gaps to third place that were almost as dominant as Pogačar’s winning advantages.

Despite a mixed early-season stage race campaign and despite seeing Paul Seixas ride away at Liège, that ‘best of the rest’ tag was reinstated with his runner-up finish at the Tour de France – an assured and consistent display that silenced many of the doubts that have trailed him.

Before Pogačar started long-range soloing everything in sight, Evenepoel was known as the peloton’s pre-eminent soloist, with his aerodynamic style allowing him to open and extend a gap on a range of courses, not just the hilliest. And his finishing kick is probably underrated as well. All that makes him a true threat in both of these races, although Montréal naturally remains the most likely area of success.

In any case, after not racing for six weeks, he’ll be looking to sharpen his racing senses and check that his form is in the right place ahead of what is undeniably a golden opportunity back in Montreal at the end of the month. (PF)

Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5)

Tom Pidcock is hard to read at times. In an age of super-consistency, he tends to blow hot and cold, but when he blows hot, he really does blow hot. And he seems to be blowing hot right now.

In fairness, some of Pidcock’s inconsistencies are perhaps linked to his multi-disciplinary pursuits, with Mountain Bike and cyclocross as key pursuits. In fact, only two weeks ago he became the XCO MTB world champion for the second time in his career. With very different physical efforts required for hours-long and often days-long road races, and a 90-minute-long MTB race, transitioning between the disciplines and training for peaks in form requires a very tricky balancing act. That’s especially true in such a compacted season, with just one month separating the Tour de France from MTB Worlds, and another month separating MTB Worlds from Road Worlds.

But there are already early indications that Pidcock has pulled this off, with a solo success at the GP Industria & Artigianato last weekend. That should put him in the mix this week, which in turn will tell us if we can truly count him among the rainbow jersey contenders. A proven one-day rider with a huge punch, light weight, and a track record that includes out-sprinting Wout van Aert, Pidcock has it all – whether it all comes out on the day continues to be the big question in the biggest events. (PF)

Michael Matthews and Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla)

If there were ever a course that was made for Michael Matthews, it's on the city streets around Québec City. The punchy hills, narrow and technical roads that wind throughout the city's historic fortified walls, down into the Plains of Abraham and along Boulevard Champlain that skirt the shores of the St. Lawrence River, have catered to this rider's strengths and have led to three victories and four other podium finishes during his career.

The circuit has been shortened to 10.3km, and the race no longer starts and finishes on Grande Allée. However, the essence of the race remains the same, with the climbs over Côte de la Montagne before looping directly back around toward the Battlefields Park adjacent to the Château Frontenac for a fast finish on the Avenue George-VI.

Although it's a tougher course situated on and around Mount Royal Park, he will also be a main contender for the race in Montréal, having won this race, too. If he can hang on through the punishing ascents of the Voie Camilien-Houde and the Chemin de Polytechnique, then the fast descent toward the new stretch along the Avenue du Mont-Royal Ouest, Rue Saint-Urbain and Avenue des Pins Ouest, before heading back onto the familiar Avenue du Parc for a slight rise to the finish line could once again be his for the taking. (KF)

However, if it turns out not to be Matthews day, the team have another excellent card to play in Mauro Schmid. The Swiss rider has already proven how well a punchy course suits him with his 2025 win at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race – where he also came fourth this year – and now he also has a Tour de France victory under his belt as well.

It means Schmid will be stepping into his final races with the Australian team, ahead of his move to Pinarello Q36.5 next year, with an extra boost of confidence. The team have outlined that while Matthews will be the supported rider for the opening valley, at the harder course of Québec it is Schmid that will be there go to rider. (SG)

Juan Ayuso and Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek)

Of Lidl-Trek's impressive line-up for the GPs, Quinn Simmons has the top results, placing third in Montréal last year over a minute adrift of Brandon McNulty (powered by the Tadej Pogačar train), so it's fitting that he's wearing the #1 bib in Canada.

Simmons posted a solid result in the Philadelphia Cycling Classic at a similarly hilly race in August, with his ninth-place finish belying how well he raced for teammate and winner Tim Torn Teutenberg. While the US champion is an outsider compared with Evenepoel, Pidcock and Del Toro, Lidl-Trek have a great opportunity to use team tactics to punch above their weight, with Ayuso able to push hard on the climbs and the ever-aggressive Toms Skujins always willing to go all-in for a breakaway.

Simmons is probably the team's best bet for Montréal or Québec, and he has quite a line-up behind him. They've got Giulio Ciccone - a punchy, aggressive rider who has a demonstrated ability to match the best, finishing second in Liège-Bastogne-Liège behind Pogačar last year and winning the San Sebastián Classic.

Derek Gee-West is a consummate teammate and destroyed himself for the team in Philadelphia. Sam Oomen and Matteo Sobrero are capable workers to control the breakaway. They'll be up against stiffer competition in Canada, but a cohesive team can be stronger than the sum of its parts, and after Simmons' sacrifice in Philly, it's his turn to shine. (LW)

Riley Sheehan (NSN)

NSN Cycling come into the Canadian WorldTour races with 2023 Québec runner-up Corbin Strong nursing a shoulder injury as a result of a crash in the Renewi Tour. He's still on the start list but might not be up for the repeated climbs of the Côte de la Montagne with a dodgy arm.

Instead, Riley Sheehan could well be the team's go-to rider, especially considering his impressive ride in Philadelphia. Sheehan took the race by the horns and made the winning breakaway - opting to go with a group of strong riders rather than hope for a bunch sprint. In doing so, Sheehan showed he can withstand tough climbs and make the pointy end of a race and still have a sprint - just the way he won Paris-Tours in 2023 to make his mark as a trainee.

Still a bit of a dark horse at the WorldTour level, Sheehan could be dangerously underestimated from both a breakaway and a bunch sprint. If or when he lands a podium, USA Cycling should hang their collective heads in shame for leaving him off their Worlds team. (LW)

Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Premier Tech)

It is the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec that is most likely to suit Kaden Groves, and it is also indeed a race that has been good for the Australians, with Michael Matthews and Simon Gerrans having swept up 5 editions between them.

While Groves hasn't lined up at the WorldTour races in Canada before, he is the type of hardy fast finisher that could do well if he rediscovers the form that last year propelled him to a Tour de France and Giro d'Italia stage win along with three other trips to the stage podium across the two Grand Tours.

However, the form is the big question. Groves hasn't even been close to a podium this season, with a crash in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad leaving him with a knee injury to grapple with. That disrupted his spring, and when he lined up at the Giro d'Italia to find that race rhythm again, another crash quickly ensued. Things haven't got better as the season has progressed, his Vuelta a España also ending with a DNF due to the fallout from a crash.

It has been a brutally tough season for the 27-year-old; however, he has shown just what he is capable of when there aren't so many obstacles in his path. The season isn't over yet and the Canadian racing block may be just what he needs to turn it around. (SG)

Alberto Bettiol (XDS Astana)

After finishing third last year in Québec and tenth in Montréal, Alberto Bettiol is a strong one-day racer who brings a wildcard element to both Grand Prix races for XDS Astana.

Winning a stage at the Giro d'Italia this year in front of home fans in Verbania, and finishing ninth overall at the recent Tour de Pologne, means this Italian rider is showing promising end-of-season form, especially as he focuses on the World Championships and the Italian one-day races.

The courses are challenging in different ways, but as an all-rounder, he could once again excel in both events this year. He also has a team to support him, with Sergio Higuita and Giro stage winner Guillermo Thomas Silva, Aaron Gate, Harold Martín López, Arjen Livyns, and Davide Toneatti, making this a team of opportunists, ready to represent their trade team in the GPs before moving on to join their respective national teams for the World Championships one week later. (KF)

For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You'll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.