The road worlds were a special day for Montreal’s Guillaume Boivin. For a few reasons.

The 37-year-old got away early and spent 142 km in the break. It was an amazing sight seeing him come onto his home roads ahead of the field, spending several laps up the road on the city circuits before the break was eventually reeled in.

But the big question was whether he would be racing next year. Boivin doesn’t have a contract with NSN Cycling for 2027.

It turns out we already had our answer.

What’s next for Boivin

When asked if the race marked one of the final races of his career—he’s racing in Germany next weekend—Boivin confirmed that his career is coming to an end.

“It was definitely the last time you’ll see me racing in the streets of Montreal, for sure. I’m retiring at the end of the season,” he said after pulling out of the worlds. “I have been talking about it a bit over the last two or three weeks; it was a process to get to this point. But honestly, I think I’m at a place where I’m really proud of the career I’ve built. I had fun, 17 years as a professional,” he said. “I experienced what I had to experience, and I’m ready to move on to other things, which is completely fine.”

An unexpected call-up to the worlds

Boivin wasn’t originally supposed to ride the worlds. After Derek Gee-West broke his ribs at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal, Boivin went from alternate status to game on.

“The next day, I received a call from Derek himself telling me I could take his spot in the race because he couldn’t start. Even though it meant a lot of travel this week, it was a great week and I tried to appreciate today as much as possible,” he said.

And appreciate it he did. He rode on roads familiar to him, and in front of a home crowd.

Boivin spent part of his childhood in Saguenay, but Longueuil on the South Shore is where he spent most of his life. He knows these roads well–just not during the biggest one-day race of the year.

A fitting way to close the chapter

Boivin missed the Tour de France because of an injury, opening the door for someone else to take his place. This time, the circumstances went the other way.

“I missed the Tour this year, and someone else got the chance to go. Sometimes you’re on a good wave and things go your way, and other times they don’t,” he said. “Here, luck turned around a bit. I’m still disappointed for Derek because he’s at home in Canada too and couldn’t experience this, but I respect his honesty immensely because he could have tried to start anyway.”

Racing through the roads where he grew up, in front of the Montreal crowd, made for a pretty fitting way to close out his final worlds.

“Exactly, I am serene. I’m not even sad—I’m just happy with how it went. It was perfect. Under the circumstances, it’s a really beautiful way to finish.”

A lon g career

Boivin has plenty of results to look back on during his 17 years as a professional, but he doesn’t expect those results to be what defines his career. He had some big rides, including being national road race champion three times, and a memorable 9th at Paris Roubaix.

“I have nice results, but I don’t think people will remember me strictly for my race results. I hope I managed to share my passion for cycling, along with perseverance and resilience. Resilience was something that made me stand out and enabled me to stay professional for 17 years. I hope I helped introduce cycling to as many people as possible and inspired young riders in Quebec to have similar careers.”

What comes next

Boivin doesn’t have everything figured out just yet. He said he only made the decision to retire with 100 per cent certainty on Monday.

“I have plenty of ideas, but since I only made the decision 100 per cent on Monday, I don’t have a firm plan yet. I’m confident you’ll still see me involved in cycling. We also plan to stay in Europe for a little bit,” he said.

Chapeau to Boivin for a great career.