2026 Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec preview: The easier half of the Canadian double

Québec is the more unpredictable of the two Canadian WorldTour races. The lap is shorter than Montréal's, the climbing is lighter, and the finish rewards a fast man who can climb as readily as it rewards a rider who goes clear.

The recent history bears that out. Michael Matthews won an uphill bunch sprint in 2024 from Biniam Girmay and Rudy Molard. Arnaud De Lie took the 2023 edition in a sprint for his first WorldTour victory, beating Corbin Strong and Matthews. 

Benoît Cosnefroy went solo on the final lap in 2022. Julian Alaphilippe joined a move last year and rode away from it alone, with Pavel Sivakov second and Alberto Bettiol third, while Tadej Pogačar finished in a peloton that never brought the attack back.

Matthews holds the record with three wins, in 2018, 2019 and 2024, from nine starts in which he has finished fifth or better all but once. Peter Sagan and Simon Gerrans won twice each.

• Date: Friday 11 September
• Race type: One-day, 1.UWT
• Distance: 206km
• Start: Parc de la Francophonie
• Finish: Plains of Abraham

The circuit runs through the old city and is decided by repetition rather than by any single difficulty. The signature ascent is the Côte de la Montagne, a short, sharp rise that the 2025 revamp moved closer to the finish. The Saint-Louis and George-VI climbs follow in the finale before the road tilts up to the line on the Plains of Abraham.

Nothing here is long. The organisers stripped out several late climbs when they redrew the lap for 2025 and lengthened the race instead, which shifted the balance towards riders who can survive an attritional day and still finish fast. Total climbing lands somewhere near 2,800 metres, roughly two-thirds of what Montréal demands on Sunday.

That difference is the whole point of the double. Québec suits puncheurs and sprinters with a climbing tolerance. Montréal, with Camillien-Houde and the Polytechnique sixteen times over, suits climbers who can finish. Riders rarely win both, and the teams that target one usually ride the other in support.

There is a further wrinkle this year. Montréal has redrawn its circuit to mirror the World Championships course, which gives it reconnaissance value that Québec does not have. Anyone building towards the Worlds has a reason to save something on Friday.

Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) starts among the leading favourites after a season in which he finished second at the Tour de France, 6:26 down on Tadej Pogačar. 

He has Maxim Van Gils alongside him, giving the team an option for a sprint and an option for a late move, which is a difficult combination to police.

Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) arrives with the best recent form in the field and we all know what the young rider can do on his day. Teammate Brandon McNulty, who won the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal twelve months ago, gives them a second card and knows both Canadian circuits well.

If the race becomes selective on the Côte de la Montagne and the run to the line, Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5), Giulio Ciccone and Juan Ayuso (both Lidl-Trek) are the most likely to make it stick. Ciccone is the more probable of the pair to anticipate the favourites, while Ayuso has the climbing legs to be there at the finish.

In the more likely case of a reduced group sprint, Dorian Godon (Netcompany Ineos) and Paul Lapeira (Decathlon CMA CGM) stand out. Godon rides Québec and skips Montréal, and an uphill sprint at the end of a hard day is exactly his terrain. Lapeira is arguably the better fit for Friday than team-mate Paul Seixas, who was fourth at the Tour de France.

Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) was third at Montréal last year and suits a race that grinds down rather than splinters. Alberto Bettiol (XDS Astana) was third here in 2025, while Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarché), Bart Lemmen and Louis Barré (both Visma | Lease a Bike) all have the characteristics to move before the sprint teams take control.

Matthews, with three wins in 2018, 2019 and 2024, has more victories in Québec than anyone and has finished fifth or better in eight of his nine starts, although his recent form is not as strong as that of the leading contenders.