RACING UP CLOSE at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal Weekend!

Join me in Montreal as I capture the thrill of the 2024 Grand Prix Cycliste weekend up close and personal. This is one of only 2 UCI sanctioned World Tour races in North America. From the sleek bikes to world-class athletes, like Tour De France winner Tadej Pogacar, Road Cycling World Champion Julian Alaphilipe, 2024 Tour de France green jersey winner Biniam Girmay, Canadian champion Michael Woods, the race has a whose who in pro cycling. Montreal has stunning city scenery and an electric atmosphere which makes this one of a kind racing event that you won’t want to miss.

UCI video of 50th anniversary of 1974 cycling championship Montreal
https://www.uci.org/article/50th-anniversary-of-the-1974-uci-road-world-championships-in-montreal-eddy/4RlHemhdDAiNHMk0uAC2QD

Last fall I took a road trip to see this. 
The Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, the 2024 edition. There are only two UCI World Tour 
races in all of North America and this is one of them. I try to get out and watch this race every 
chance I can. If you’re a cycling enthusiast, you owe it to yourself to watch at least one 
World Tour race up close. It’s so different when you see it in person. You’ll get a chance to 
see your favorite riders, watch him practice, and cheer them on during the race. I always bring my 
camera along to catch souvenir photos and videos. Over the years, I’ve had a chance to see Chris Froome, Greg Van Avermaet, Alberto Contador, Tom Boonen, Rui Costa, Ryder Hesjedal, and even 
Peter Sagan. This year’s lineup of riders was impressive. There was three-time tour to France 
winner and 2024 world champion Tadej Pogačar. Then there was two-time world champion Julian 
Alaphilippe. Even if you’re not into road cycling, you might recognize these names since they 
both starred in the Netflix series about the tour to France called Unchained. Also on the 
race card was 2024 winner of the green jersey at the Tour to France, Biniam Girmay. Or is it 
Biniam Germaay? I think it’s Benium Germaine. What do you think? Is it Biniam Girmay or Biniam 
Germaay? The race card also highlighted a couple of promising Canadians. There’s Hugo Houle, 
who won a stage at the Tour to France in 2022, and he dedicated his victory to his brother who 
had passed away that year. Then there’s Derek Gee, who’s been putting in some solid performances on 
the Pro Tour. He finished ninth at the Tour to France in 2024. And let’s not forget about Michael 
Matthews. Now, this guy has done races in both Quebec City and Montreal and won both of them. So, 
if anyone knows the strategy on how to win this race in Montreal, it’s him. I was really looking 
forward to attending this year’s race, but the road trip almost fell through if I hadn’t struck 
a deal with the better half. She go as long as we included some sightseeing. I agreed and we arrived 
in town a day early to explore downtown Montreal. After walking around all day, we started 
feeling hungry. So, we decided to head up to the Jean Talon Market to grab some food. If 
you’ve never been, there’s all kinds of vendors selling fresh fruits and vegetables and others 
with prepared foods like small restaurants. We visited this little place that serves 
seafood. She’s a big fan of their calamari and that put me in the good books. The next 
morning was a start of race weekend and we jumped onto a bus to check out the course 
in the teams. Okay, so quickest way to get to Montreal is not to take your car downtown. 
Uh just grab city transit. So we’re going to take the subway down and subway system here is 
quite good. We just got let off by our bus. Uh we’re here at the bus terminal at a place called 
Côte-Vertu and this should take us right downtown. So, just getting out of the subway station at the 
Metro, that’s what they call it here in Montreal. Actually, very good. Gets you around fairly 
quickly, especially on the weekend. Uh, I ended up spending like $15 or $16. And I got a bus pass 
for the whole weekend. I don’t have to worry about parking my car downtown or whatever. So, I’m good 
from Friday afternoon until Sunday morning. So, what I’m going to do today is we’re going down to 
the Delta Hotel where the riders are staying. And they actually came down here by bus overnight, uh, 
sorry, this morning. And what they end up doing on Saturday is they, get all dressed up, get their 
bikes ready, and they do a quick recon of the um, of the route. So hopefully we’ll be able to 
see a few of the bikes that they’re riding today, see some of the riders, and they sort of come out 
in drips and drabs. Some go out bright and early and other times they uh come out later in the 
afternoon as you can see here. A lot of fans like myself out here just waiting to see everybody come 
out. Uh it should be uh very interesting. Let’s see who we see this afternoon. Okay, so we got the 
Soudal team uh coming out here on their S works. Duke and some autograph hounds here. And 
this is Let’s have a quick look here. Yeah. I wandered around the hotel for a 
bit and I found the Israel Premier Tech mechanics making adjustments to bikes 
and then loading them back on the truck, which would indicate to me that the Soudal team 
is probably one of the last teams to leave the hotel and the other teams were already 
out on the course or back at the hotel. As I was shooting B-roll video of Julian 
leaving the hotel, I caught this special moment. I’ll explain what it is a bit later in 
the video. Since most of the teams had already left the hotel, we decided to walk over to the 
racecourse to see if we can spot any of them. Sure. Yes, Gway. Yes. And uh just past us was 
Tadej Pogačar. Well, that was quite interesting seeing the UAE team walk right by me while we 
were waiting for them down at the garage to come out. So, going to take a walk up what they call 
Park Avenue. That’s where the race is tomorrow. So, we’re just waiting to get across the 
street here. I see the Canadian team here on the corner. Not sure who that is, but 
we’ll have a look. And they’ve done their practice run. They’re all heading on back. This is 
Bahrain Victorious. Some of the Canadian riders. These guys are just riding in open traffic. 
No special escort, no special anything. As we’re walking up Park Avenue, it looks like Oh, the Lotto Soudal guys have done their 
uh return and they’re on their way back as we catch these guys going. As we’re nearing the start of the course, 
hopefully you can see that. And the finish line is uphill all the way. So, it’ll be an uphill sprint. 
Uh we’ll go over a little closer and just have a a look and see what’s going on. Teams coming home 
from Oh, that’s Biniam. Germay. Biniam. Biniam. Um, the actual course actually goes all 
the way down to where these cars are. And what ends up happening is they uh come down 
straight here. They do a hairpin turn and then all the way straight up. Now that 
hairpin turn is kind of tricky and you can’t do it at a very high rate of speed 
otherwise you’ll wipe yourself right out. So, what ends up happening, especially in the 
final lap, everyone sort of slows down, turns, and then it’s an allout sprint right to the end, 
full gas, everyone starts pretty well at zero, and as you can see, it’s all uphill all the 
way up here. Here’s the people from Ineos. Yeah, this seems to be where the action is. I 
really thought the hotel would have been better, but uh get to see a little more here. Okay, 
they’re already preparing for 2026 and Montreal is going to host the World Championships. 
Little reminder here that’ll probably be on television a 100 times tomorrow. And who’s 
coming down here? Oh, that’s Biniam’s team. Ah those squeaking disc brakes. Aren’t 
they great? More guys on their way down and fans joining in with them. Who 
do we got coming down here? Bora, and a bunch of locals 
trailing me. There you go, guys. So, I made it here to the start finish line. 
Uh, start is on that side. I guess this is where they’re going to be doing the sign in. And this 
is usually where they announce the winners. And stuff’s been changed this year. I’m going to show 
you here. You can see these um tents and tents up here. Now, all of this is usually the VIP section. 
And I’m going to turn around here. That used to be over here where the Ecoy tent is. That’s going to 
probably be part of the fan section tomorrow. Um they used to be stationed over here. And all the 
fans used to be able to get on this side and watch the race and uh you could see the sign in and all 
that kind of stuff. So this year looks like the average fan is going to be blocked out cuz all the 
VIPs are going to be in front of them and average fan like myself is not going to be able to see 
this live. All we’re going to end up seeing is um probably the television screen which is 
a big disappointment. After seeing some of the teams and riders at the hotel and along the 
route, we decided to call it a day. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then we turned in. Now the 
next morning, we packed a lunch and some drinks to take with us to the race. We jumped on the 
metro and got off at a station that was right on the race court and we’re going to be walking on 
uh back down towards uh Avenue de Park or English translation Park Avenue. And today is supposed to 
be a nice warm one today. It’s going to be about 28° C which works out to I think in Fahrenheit 824 
degrees Fahrenheit something. Oh, hold on a sec. um messed up on my calculator. 82.4° F. That 
sounds a little better. Uh along the route, they actually have some um spritzing stations. 
You can stand in front of them and they spray water all over you to cool you off cuz later today 
uh you’re definitely going to need it. The high is supposed to reach around uh 4 to 5:00. The race is 
supposed to end. Well, there we go. There’s a sign about the race. Uh It’s supposed to end around 
5:00 today and 4ish I think actually official time to end is 4 but usually by the time they get the 
um they announce the winners etc etc. It usually ends up being around 5:00 in the afternoon. So 
it should be getting pretty hot for everybody towards the end of the race. Hopefully at this 
stage of the season, uh they’re all hydrated and they uh got their legs and they know uh how 
to deal with hot weather at this point. One thing I’m noticing here on the back end, it’s uh 
shaded, so that’ll be quite good for the riders this afternoon. They’ll be in the shade when they 
get down here, cool them off a little bit because there is quite a bit of climbing to do today. 
If I’m not mistaken, it’s close to 5,000 mters total. So, it’s definitely uh going to tax you 
today. And we’ve also been seeing all kinds of riders still on the course that are not uh part 
of team. So, basically local people using it as uh transportation to work. I did see a lead rider 
just whiz by here. I don’t know if he’s just doing a quick reconnaissance before the uh sign in this 
morning. So, this is the first time I’ve ever seen something like this. Um, this tells you how many 
cyclists have used uh this bike lane today. Uh, all the way from here all the way up. So, it’s 
showing me uh 251 and uh I’m going to have to check out my Google uh translator. Cles chhate 
an uh 390.181. So, I wonder if that’s for all the cyclists throughout the whole year. 390,000 people 
have used this, which is an interesting statistic. And the excitement begins. We just arrived 
to the park. We kind of can hear some of the um uh signins starting up and the vigla. It 
really gets the adrenaline flowing. Okay, this is what I was afraid of. Um uh just over here 
is the um stage where the riders are and okay, time for a rant. I was really disappointed with 
the new viewing arrangement for the average fan. Had I known that after a 7-hour drive to Montreal, 
the best viewing angle I could get was this, or this, or this, where you’re beside the stage 
standing shoulderto-shoulder in a mob of people, and you can’t even move, and the best you 
can do is see the side of somebody on the stage. Not cool. Let me show you some photos 
from previous races in Montreal that I took. I was far away from the stage, but at least 
I got a chance to see some of my favorite teams and snap a couple of souvenir photos. 
And this year, Montreal was celebrating the 50th anniversary of hosting the Road World Cycling 
Championships back in 1974. They did a nice video presentation showing the men’s winner Eddy Merckx 
and the women’s winner, Geneviève Gambillon. and Geneviève was on stage to accept a commemorative 
world road cycling champions jersey from none other than Julian Alaphilippe. It would have been 
a nice thing to see, but from my vantage point, the best I could do is watch it on a big screen 
TV, but I got the next best thing. I had a chance to see up close Julian Alaphilippe meet Geneviève 
Gambillon for the first time and record it. Let’s go back to a previous part of the video. Remember 
this? I was there shooting random B-roll video and I didn’t realize who this lady was shaking 
Julian’s hand. It was only after I began to do the edit that I put two and two together and 
realized what I had caught on video. Lucky me. I really hope the organizers in Montreal and the 
UCI reconsider this new arrangement. It’s not fun for the average fan. Well, that’s enough of 
the rant. Let’s get on to the start of the race. Heat. Heat. Well, the race has started and this year I decided 
to walk the 12 km course instead of staying in one spot and wait for the riders to pass by. This 
is what makes city courses appealing. You get to experience watching the same riders at 
several different spots around the course. We took a detour and strolled back up the road 
that we used to get to the start of the race. And we found the little boy had set up 
a lemonade stand just at the edge of the sidewalk. Not only did he have cold drinks, 
but he also had chocolate bars, fresh fruit, and even a bike pump that these cyclists 
use to get themselves back on the road. How entrepreneurial is that? We decided to grab 
a couple of cold drinks from him and continue on. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Okay, we’re at the far end of the course and 
now we’re going to climb up to the top of uh Mount Royale and we’re just waiting for 
some other the the guys to come through. This is going to be a bit of a challenge to walk, 
but part of the fun of being on a bike race, you just wander around and uh take in the scenery 
of the town that you’re in. Interesting thing, this side of the road is brand new, fresh, 
freshly paved, and the side that the riders are riding on has got a bunch of cracks in the 
road, all kinds of uh potholes and whatnot. thing when you’re at a bike race, when 
the riders uh blow by you, you have no clue who’s who and who you’re supposed to 
uh cheer for. It just happens so quickly. and two cars on the way. Okay, so as we’re walking uh towards the top 
of Mount Royal, I’m not sure what this is, but obviously Trek’s involved somehow. 
I guess one of the local bicycle dealers has got a barbecue going and food and 
whatnot. And if I’m not mistaken, yeah, they got uh a TV. Let’s just sort of sneak 
in here. They got a TV watching the the race. Everyone’s sort of kicking back, enjoying 
the race there. A little barbecue going. Okay. What I thought was going to be the top 
of the hill wasn’t. It was actually the top of uh Montreal University. And uh I’ve got to go up 
another hill. And it definitely has been getting hot. And I really appreciate walking through these 
shaded areas. It’s made a world of difference. Pelaton on its way. Who’s at the front here? UAE. Okay, more climbing to the top. I haven’t 
got to my lunch spot yet. More ways to go up to Mount Royale. So, this way and up, 
up, up. Well, they’re telling me this is going to be a very good view. And I hope 
so. I’ve been climbing this thing all day. Heat. Heat. And this is what you call a 
bling bike that you see all over the place here. Real something. All chrome. Beautiful. So, the view from the top of here is gorgeous. 
You can see all of downtown Montreal all the way there. This here is the old Montreal Olympic 
Stadium. Just fantastic tree canopy below us. That was worth the climb. And I just put some 
food in me and I think I should be good for the rest of the afternoon. It is really starting 
to warm up right now. So, back onto the road. Heat. Heat. Let’s go. Let’s go. lone Canadian at the end there trying to stay 
ahead of the broom truck. Uh looks like the day is starting to wear on a few of the riders. Few 
of them are starting to fall off the back. Okay, this this is the first time I’ve seen 
this up here. Um it’s a Red Bull section. We finally left the Red Bull area and headed 
back to where the race started to check out the Fan Expo and find a good spot to watch 
the finish of the race. We were tired, hot, and really thirsty because we had walked more than 
21 km. I even had salt stains on my shorts from all the sweat to show for it. Remember, we walked 
from the subway station to the race start and then all around the course. At this point of the day, 
I was ready to find a place to sit and relax. I wanted to lie down on this bunch of ice and have 
the guy drive me around the race, but the driver wasn’t having any of it. This year’s fan expo was 
one of the biggest I’ve seen in a while. There were all kinds of booths from bike companies such 
as Argon, Louis Garnau, Specialized. Plus, there were companies giving away free food samples along 
with a few places to get a bite to eat if you’re really hungry. Then there were the group showing 
off fun places to travel to. We got done checking out the Fan Expo and the race had been going 
on for about 4 and 1/2 hours, so I figured this was a good time to head toward the finish line 
and secure a spot to watch the end of the race. I really don’t like having to do this because the 
waiting around can be pretty stressful. Not to mention a little claustrophobic with people in 
front of you, people behind you, people beside you. You end up becoming one big ball of people. 
But you know what? This is where the excitement happens. Everyone’s cheering, watching the riders 
approach the finish line, and then you finally see who wins the race. This is the kind of stuff 
you don’t get when you watch it on a screen. So, it’s looking to me like uh um a lot 
of the riders are actually bailing out and there’s only a few more laps left and the 
Pelaton is probably going to start to turn it up. Uh unfortunate there’s a big contingent of uh 
Biniam Germay fans today all from Eritrea really out to support him and looks like he’s not going 
to even make it to the end which is unfortunate. With just four laps to go, I could feel the pace 
of the race really pick up as the Pelaton turned into one big blur and it broke up into two packs. 
The front pack was pushing hard to catch these two guys who were up ahead in a breakaway. The 
front pack pushed the pace so hard the back half of the Pelaton is nowhere in sight. Check out 
the video. Let’s focus on this front group who are the riders that have a good chance of winning 
a podium position. I’m going to hit the brakes on the video and slow it down so we can see what’s 
going on and it’s not just one big blur. It looks like UAE is making a strong push for the wind 
as they put three riders up at the front of the Pelaton. There’s Tim Wellens, Domen Novak, 
and Rafal Mika. And right behind him is Magnus Sheffield from Ineos. I don’t know why he’s up 
here. Any of you have an idea why Sheffield’s up here on his own? Drop a comment below. And then 
there’s UAE leader Tadej Pogačar. The other top riders in this pack waiting for their moment to 
strike are Julian Alaphilippe And then from Jayco we have Simon Yates and Michael Matthews. 
And don’t forget there’s a Canadian here, Derek Gee. There’s three riders from Baharin 
Victorious working hard to support rider number 113, Pello Bilbao López de Armentia. Try signing 
a check with that name. There’s only a couple of laps to go. Let’s see what happens. Breakaway was 
caught. Uh we got 24. We got two more laps to do the 24K. Looks like Pacha’s at the front. Two more 
laps to do. As the Pelaton went whizzing by with just two laps to go, they got to the first climb 
and Pagotaa took off and left everyone behind. Okay, I’m going to give you a shot overhead 
and you’re going to see the photographers out on the tarmac lining themselves up 
for the photo shot. Check this out. All right, so final lap. I heard the fans starting to cheer 
again. I figured the Pelaton was approaching and we’d finally find out 
who was going to win the race. Instead, I saw this Pogačar all by himself. He had 
held off the Pelaton not for one lap, but two. And the winner is Pogačar. He had gotten 
so far ahead, no one was able to catch him. I’ve never seen someone win this race by 
such a huge margin. This race is usually a sprint finish with about six or seven riders 
fighting it out right to the very end. Well, hope you enjoyed that. That was my 
trip to Montreal checking out the 2024 edition of the Grand Prix de Moral. 
Thanks for watching. We’ll see you soon.