‘Truly an exceptional memory’ – Eddy Merckx and Genevieve Gambillon look back on 1974 World Championships wins as Montreal’s Mount Royal climb returns to centre stage

Mount Royal returns to the centre stage of global cycling this week when Montréal hosts the UCI Road World Championships, September 20-27. It has been 52 years since Montréal made history as the first Road Worlds outside Europe and two years later notched another milestone as the first Canadian city to host summer competitions for the Olympic Games.

The signature incline through Parc du Mont-Royal on city circuits is Camillien-Houde, which provides postcard views of the east side of Montreal and the Olympic Stadium. For junior, under-23 and elite riders, the steep 1.7km boulevard, with pitches to 10%, poses challenges for legs, lungs and will power on the repetition of ascents.

The province of Québec has embraced cycling events ever since with 38 years of the Tour de Beauce for men and 36 years of international-level mountain bike races for men and women at Mont-Sainte-Anne. In the past 16 years races have been staged for women in Gatineau, while for 15 years men have WorldTour-level races in Montréal and Québec City.

“I have been dreaming of the UCI World Championships since 2013, 2014, when the Grands Prix cyclistes de Québec and de Montréal began to enjoy a some success,” said Sébastien Arsenault, who leads the organisation for the two WorldTour races. Arsenault is also president of the organising committee for the 2026 UCI Road World Championships

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“The success of the Grands Prix cyclistes de Québec and de Montréal is set to be multiplied tenfold. Cycling often comes to our region for just two days, two six-hour races, and then we wait a whole year. With the UCI World Championships, we’ll be offering what I call the Olympics of road cycling: the joy, the fun, the passion, the pace and the energy of the Grand Prix, but spread over eight days of competition.”

What was in plain view this past decade to people in Montréal was a far cry from what Olmstead originally brought to life. His love for the outdoors, which included hiking and fishing, would lead to a love affair for the “city of saints” and cyclists.

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Baiting the hooks in 1974 and earning accolades from spectators and media was the first step, then the stars from Belgium and France took over.

Instant appeal

Eddy Merckx dominated the monster 262.5km elite men’s road course in high temperatures, 30°C, to earn a third rainbow jersey in 1974. It was also his shining moment to celebrate a cycling ‘triple crown’, adding the world title to GC wins at the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in the same year.

Merckx stood on the podium alongside French riders Raymond Poulidor and Mariano Martinez, and only 15 other riders completed the course. But it was only until an all-day breakaway by Frenchman Bernard Thévenet was caught that Merckx could position for the win.

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“It’s an incredible memory. Initially, they said the course was for sprinters, but Mont Royal turned out to be something quite different,” Merckx recounted in a UCI video recorded for organisers to announce the 2026 Road Worlds return to Montréal.

“I believe it was a very tough race, with [Bernard] Thévenet leading a long breakaway. I think the Belgian team worked well in my favour, allowing us to catch up on the final lap.

“By the time we caught up with Thévenet, of course, at that point, I was in a better position to become World Champion for the third time. I was able to attack, and only Poulidor was able to follow me, but I managed to beat him in the sprint. That’s truly an exceptional memory.

“I also remember the car without a body that was next to us [to capture video]. It was really something special.”

Live racing action was captured on stationary cameras that year in Montréal, with a camera secured to a cut-out automobile, not a motorcycle, following the leaders.

On the women’s side, seven-time French road champion Geneviève Gambillon won the elite women’s race in a two-up sprint as well.

She came into the race as the first French woman to win a world title on the road, doing so in 1972. With a solid career on the track, earning 15 national titles across a nine-year career, Gambillon welcomed another sprint finish two years later in Montréal.

“Just eight days before, I had a bad crash in Gap, resulting in a fractured collarbone and a displaced acromion. So I started the race with my arm in a sling. I had to grab my arm and place it on the handlebars,” she recounted in the UCI video.

“Given how demanding the course was, we ended up with just two of us in the breakaway, which made things a bit easier. I was confident I could beat her in the sprint as well.

“It was a really beautiful championship. It was a championship with various twists and turns, the atmosphere was incredible.”

After Canada opened the doors to the world’s best road cyclists for Road World Championships 52 years ago, the races were held on other continents away from Europe 10 times, including three more editions in North America, USA hosting twice (1986, 2015) and Hamilton, Ontario taking the honours for a second Canadian visit in 2003.

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