The Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal is held just 48 hours after the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec, creating a perfect chance for revenge for the riders beaten in the previous race.
The Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal is close to 205km long and covers 17 laps of a 12.1km circuit, making it harder and more selective than the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec. The circuit is similar to the one that hosted the road race at the UCI Road World Championships in 1974, when the legendary Eddy Merckx claimed the rainbow jersey.
The start and finish area is in the Mount Royal park that overlooks the city skyline. Each lap includes two climbs and 230m of climbing, giving a total race elevation of 3890m, which is similar to other testing one-day Classics on the UCI WorldTour calendar. The riders face the Côte Camilien-Houde (1.8km long at an 8% average gradient) and the Côte de la Polytechnique (780m long at 6%) on each circuit with the finish also rising at 4% on the Avenue du Parc.
The 2014 edition of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal saw Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) in action while wearing the rainbow jersey he had won in Florence. However the Portuguese rider was unable to stop Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) from completing the first ever Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and Montréal double. Costa tried several attacks and was on form but could not match Gerrans' final charge to the line. France's Tony Gallopin was third.
Together with its sister race in Québec, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal offers an attractive path for riders building towards the UCI Road World Championships. A case in point is that of Rui Costa in 2013: the Portuguese rider took two top six places in the two events prior to capturing the road race world title in Italy in October. In 2015, with the UCI Road World Championships also being held on the American continent (Richmond, USA), the rainbow jersey will be more than ever at the back of everybody’s minds during the two Canadian races.