Exactly six months before the September 11th start date of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal, the organisers have named the four wildcard teams which will line out in that and the the GP Cycliste de Quebec two days earlier.
Unsurprisingly, Steve Bauer’s Team SpiderTech-C10 gets the nod and is one of the quartet of Pro Continental teams confirmed for the event. The other three are French, perhaps reflecting the strong Francophone element in Canada. These are Cofidis, FDJ and Thomas Voeckler’s Team Europcar.
Perennial attacker Voeckler won last year’s race in Québec and is expected to return to defend his title. The team’s Canadian rider David Veilleux should also be present, while Dominique Rollin will be a probable selection for FDJ.
Team SpiderTech C10 will be targeting a strong performance in the race and will likely field riders such as the Svein Tuft in the race. It also has four riders from Québec to chose from, namely Guillaume Boivin, Kevin Lacombe, Martin Gilbert and David Boily.
Being a World Tour event, it will give automatic entry to the 18 ProTeams.
Last year’s races were lauded by the riders who took part. They gave a high rating to that the testing circuits, large crowds and the general atmosphere, and some said that the courses would be ideal world championship locations. In November it was confirmed that Quebec would bid to host the 2015 edition.
Race organisers announced today that they would make some changes to the courses of the races. “Given last year’s experience and the fact that the riders have said they would like the distance to be closer to that of the great Classic races, this year’s competitions in Quebec and Montreal will be over 200 km long,” said Charly Mottet, the former Tour de France yellow jersey who is acting as sports manager for the events.
“The pack will ride one more lap, and will have the daunting hills of Côte de la Montagne in Quebec City and Camilien Houde Road in Montreal to contend with. Both races promise to be really exciting, and whoever wins will be a worthy champion.”
Robert Gesink won the GP Cycliste de Montreal last year, breaking clear on Mont Royal and finishing four seconds ahead of chasers Peter Sagan (Liquigas), the Canadian Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions), Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack), Maxime Montfort (HTC-Columbia) and Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi). He said afterwards that it was his best career victory.
Voeckler’s move in the GP Cycliste de Québec also came late in the race. He came from behind with a superbly-timed attack on the climb up to the finish line, just holding off Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky), Gesink and Hesjedal. The latter was arguably the strongest rider in the race, but was closely marked by the other contenders who knew he was psyched to win on home soil.
This time round, he’ll hope things will work out differently.
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Selections for Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and Montreal
UCI ProTeams:
AG2R La Mondiale
BMC Racing Team
Euskaltel-Euskadi
HTC – Highroad
Katusha Team
Lampre – ISD
Leopard Trek
Liquigas-Cannondale
Movistar Team
Omega Pharma-Lotto
Pro Team Astana
Quickstep Cycling Team
Rabobank Cycling Team
Saxo Bank Sungard
Sky Procycling
Team Garmin-Cervelo
Team RadioShack
Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
Professional Continental Teams:
Cofidis
FDJ
Team Europcar
Team SpiderTech-C10