Sure, Remco Evenepoel would like to win another one-day race, whether that’s the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec this Friday or the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal that follows on Sunday. But really, the priority is the world championships, both the elite men’s time trial and the road race, starting a week after the Montreal GP.
On Wednesday in Quebec City, late in Evenepoel’s day that included a training ride, he discussed what followed his second place overall at July’s Tour de France and winning his fourth Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa at the start of August. After the racing, he took a short break before heading to train at altitude for three weeks, a session he dubbed the “Canada Project” on Strava. Compared with his preparation for the Tour de France, the Canada Project featured more work on his explosive power. Here, he won’t face long mountain passes, but punchier efforts instead. Then Evenepoel practically came down from the Sierra Nevada and headed across the Atlantic Ocean.
“This coming weekend is really about finding sensations again and seeing where I am,” he said. “I’ve prepared for the two races here, then another week for a time trial, which is always quite specific, and then the road race. Clearly, in every race, I’ll aim as high as possible.”
Remco Evenepoel. Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec. Image: James Startt/GPCQM
For Evenepoel, the Quebec GPs are a bit of a puzzle. “It’s always a strange kind of race. You never know on which lap the race will explode,” he said. “Here, these are quite explosive races, so things can move on every lap, and that’s what I like. They are always open races where you never know how it will unfold.”
A cynic might accuse Evenepoel of not having paid attention to these races since his only appearance at them in 2019. For the past four editions in Montreal, it’s been UAE Team Emirates-XRG deploying TNT at will, whether Tadej Pogačar is there or not. Quebec, however, has remained more open to fast finishers and opportunists. Evenepoel remarked on the recent change to the finish of the Quebec City circuit. Prior to 2025, racers took on the long false flat up Grande Allée Est to the finish line. Last year, Julian Alaphilippe snagged his big win after tuning onto George VI Ave. and riding to victory in Battlefields Park. “I think the finish climb suits me better now than before,” Evenepoel said.
While Evenepoel said he’s aiming high for the one-day WorldTour races, the GPs seem to have some wiggle room built into them. “There are ambitions, but you never know,” he said. “There was the flight, the travel, and I came back from altitude just a few days ago. So I don’t know how the body will react to altitude and jetlag. You never know if one of the two races might not go well at all. We’ll have to see.”
“My coach also told me that I should never panic if one of the races this weekend doesn’t go super well,” Evenepoel added later, “as there’s still time to feel at my top level for the world championship road race.
“Overall, I think everything will go well.”
In 2019, Evenepoel finished 99th in Quebec and 53rd in Montreal. He won the world championship road race in 2022, and has won the TT world championship race the past three years.
Remco Evenepoel. Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec. Image: Yves Perret/GPCQM