Québec & Montréal GP - Arnaud Gérard: "two tough circuit-races"
This week, it’s the “North American tour” for professional cycling with the two Canadian Grand Prix, in Quebec and Montreal.
“I’ve always enjoyed racing on circuits like the Grands Prix de Québec and the Grands Prix de Montréal, two UCI WorldTour classics that I discovered last year. I finished 11th in the first after a long sprint. I hope to be in the same frame of mind this year, with a view to improving on that performance.”
“I’ll be discovering the Grands Prix de Québec and the Grands Prix de Montréal. I really like the profiles of these two UCI WorldTour classics, and it’s also interesting to discover cycling on a continent other than Europe. There aren’t many big races on the American continent, and these two are great competitions. I’ve always wanted to take part in these events. I was able to resume specific training almost a fortnight ago. I was looking forward to getting back into the race, which was the case with the Bretagne Classic Ouest-France, which allowed me to get back on track before the two Canadian classics.”
“These are two UCI WorldTour classics contested on a circuit. The Grand Prix de Québec usually crowns a climber-puncher. It’s also an event where placement plays a major role. The last hour and a half of the race is intense, and the repetition of the efforts has the effect of a wringer for the riders. Montréal is even more reserved for climbers than for puncheurs, with more than 4,800 metres of ascent in total. It’s a very tough race. We have three good cards for the Quebec classic with Warren Barguil, Clément Champoussin and Matîs Louvel, and for Sunday it will obviously be more the first two mentioned.”