Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal 2014

Last Sunday (September 14) was the 5th edition of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal that attracts over 150 elite international cyclists to participate in the 206km race around Mount Royal.

The race is part of the officially sanctioned UCI WorldTour event that includes the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España along with other races in Europe, Oceania and Asia. Montreal and Quebec city are the only North American cities to hold races under the UCI WorldTour banner.

The Montreal race takes place just a few days after the Québec City race. History was to be made in Montreal by Australian Simon Gerrans with the ORICA GreenEDGE team who won both races – the first time a racer has achieved this.

18 pro teams and one team from Canada competed, climbing and descending Mount Royal 17 times on the 12.1km circuit making it an intimidating course with the total altitude difference being just under 4km.

The circuit was the same as past years (you can view a map from last years race here) and I ended up checking out my usual spots along avenue du Parc, chemin Camillien Houde and chemin Remembrance. It was announced that Montreal had signed up to host the race for the next 5 years, so maybe next year I’ll get to check out more of the course.