No Pogacar but plenty of intrigue as World Championships return to Montreal

The Canadiens’ preparations for the new NHL season might still be dominating the local sports pages this week, but there is little doubt that Montréal is ready for the World Championships.

The recent Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec et Montréal doubled as a dress rehearsal for the main attraction, but this corner of the world has a longstanding cycling heritage. Back in 1974, after all, Montréal was the host for the first World Championships to be held outside of Europe, with Eddy Merckx annexing his record-equalling third rainbow jersey on the circuit around Mount Royal Park. 

More importantly, at least as far as cycling in Québec is concerned, a young Radio-Canada journalist named Serge Arsenault was a last-minute call-up to the local broadcast of the race when the established pundit suffered an accident. 

Arsenault had little familiarity with the sport, but he talked his way through that afternoon and the seed germinated. After getting the Montréal Marathon up and running in 1977, he turned his attention to cycling, and the Grand Prix des Amériques featured on the old World Cup between 1988 and 1992.

Although Arsenault’s organisation won admiration from the European pros who made the long trek across the Atlantic, the race didn’t endure. But the idea persisted, and in 2010, the Grands Prix de Québec et Montréal were added to the WorldTour calendar, quickly establishing themselves as a plum fixture. 

Over the last fifteen years, the Canadian races have largely superseded the Vuelta a España as the preferred build-up for men with designs on winning the rainbow jersey. It was only logical that the Worlds would return to the banks of the St. Lawrence. It was just a matter of when – and where.

Groupe Tonic, the organisation behind the Canadian races, is now headed by Arsenault’s son Sebastien. Their initial proposal was for Québec City to host the Worlds, and when that avenue was closed off, there were talks with Sherbrooke. Montréal only came into play when the city withdrew its interest in hosting games at the 2026 World Cup.

By happy coincidence, the Worlds take place exactly 50 years after Montréal hosted the Olympic Games, though plans to have races start and finish at the Olympic Stadium were thwarted by renovation works. 

No matter, there is a familiar ring to the road race circuit in Montréal, which is again based around Mont Royal Park and the climb of Voie Camillien-Houde. The elite men will take in a 100km trek from Brossard before tackling twelve laps of the circuit.

“The World Championships are 10 times bigger. They’re a beast in themselves,” Sebastien Arsenault told La Presse when comparing them to the Canadian races. “It’s like playing a Canadiens-Bruins regular season game versus the Olympics.”

In keeping with recent tradition, the elite time trials are scheduled for the opening day of the Worlds on Sunday. Twelve months ago, the Rwanda Worlds started with a sonic boom of a bang when Remco Evenepoel caught and passed Tadej Pogačar to claim his third straight crown. It’s difficult to imagine anything quite as dramatic happening here, but Evenepoel is always a box office performer.

Evenepoel will certainly roll down the start ramp as the overwhelming favourite for a fourth title. Filippo Ganna (Italy) and Stefan Küng (Switzerland) are among the hopefuls after each winning Grand Tour time trials this year, and the flat, fast course is suited to their talents. But on form and pedigree, Evenepoel looks to have every time trialling base covered, and it would be an immense upset if he were to lose his crown here.

In the women’s event, defending champion Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) is the logical favourite and last year’s under-23 champion Zoe Bäckstedt (Great Britain) a potential challenger. The course is probably too flat for Demi Vollering (Netherlands), but in her year of years, she will feel a medal is within range.

The under-23 and junior races follow on Monday and Tuesday before the mixed team relay takes centre stage on Wednesday, with Australia chasing a third straight win. The success of the mixed 4x400m relay in athletics has shown the potential for this event, but the format might still need tweaking if the discipline is to thrive. 

There has been considerable suspense in recent editions and that should again be the case here, but it’s hard to shake the sense that the event is largely a palate cleanser – or even a space filler – before the road races.

The beauty of Worlds week is the steady drumbeat towards the main events on the second weekend. The junior and under-23 races give a glimpse of the possibilities afforded by the course before the elite women and men fight it out for the rainbow bands.

All week, speculation mounts about the prospects of the contenders. Behind closed doors, coaches try to build harmony in national squads where trade team rivals suddenly find themselves cast together as allies for a day.

Even in this data-driven age, there are all sorts of intangibles and subtleties at play in the World Championships. Just ask Demi Vollering. The Dutchwoman is the favourite for the elite women’s road race, but her underwhelming Worlds record – six starts, one silver medal – underlines just how difficult it is for the stars to align on the day.

Twelve months ago, everything fell into place for Magdeleine Vallières in Kigali and the Sherbrooke native will be the headline act for the home fans in Montréal next week, with Michael Woods and – injury allowing – Derek Gee-West leading the line in the men’s race.

That event, of course, has been blown open by the absence of Tadej Pogačar, who was chasing – and let’s face it, very likely to achieve – a third successive rainbow jersey in Montréal. Having spent the year bracing ourselves for another Pogačar exhibition around Mont Royal Park, the Worlds will have a very different flavour.

Evenepoel will believe he can claim a second title, but his compatriot Wout van Aert arrives buoyed by a fine Vuelta a España. Paul Seixas (France) and Isaac del Toro (Mexico) underscored their credentials in the GP de Montréal last week, while Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) and Tom Pidcock (Great Britain) look in sparkling form even as their seasons draw towards a close.

After the shock and awe of Pogačar’s triumph in Zürich and the inevitability of his repeat in Kigali, this Worlds promises something different. An unexpected opportunity has presented itself, and there will be no shortage of riders straining to reach out and grab it. A week of intrigue awaits in Montréal.