Evenepoel, Del Toro, Seixas, Van der Poel, Pidcock, Jorgenson and more big stars clash Friday, Sunday as worlds approaches.
Remco Evenepoel will be one of the top favorites for the two WorldTour races in Canada plus the world championships (Photo: Kurt Desplenter/Belga Mag via AFP) (Photo: KURT DESPLENTER)
Updated September 8, 2026 05:17AM
For the two upcoming Canadian WorldTour races, there is a huge possibility this will be the high water mark in terms of the number and clout of big champions taking part.
Sure, Tadej Pogačar is absent through injury, but both the GP Cycliste de Québec and GP Cycliste de Montréal have glittering start lists and will be absolutely crammed with riders with something to prove.
The reason? The small matter of cycling’s road world championships, taking place the following week in Montréal.
Some of the sports’ biggest names have already travelled across the Atlantic and have been using this time to scope out the world championship road race course which, somewhat bizarrely, uses precisely the same circuit as the GP Cycliste de Montréal.
There’s a serious risk of déjà vu for the TV viewers, but also an unprecedented opportunity for riders to test a worlds route just days before.
And that’s why the big guns have prioritised Friday’s race in Québec and Sunday’s in Montréal.
So who will be there?
Well, Tadej Pogačar’s big crash on stage 8 of the Vuelta a España left him with fractures and a concussion, so he won’t be racing in Canada this week or next. Also absent will be Pogačar’s big Tour de France rival Jonas Vingegaard, who put an end to his season after suffering his own fracture in the Tour.
But those two aside, the start list is a who’s who of big champions.
Tour de France runner-up Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) is back and raring to go, having taken a break from competition after his second overall in France and then his victory in the San Sebastian Classic.
He’s been doing a form-building altitude training camp in Livigno, Italy, including a 6 hour 45 minute monster taking in the Mortirolo, Passo Gavia and the climb to Mottolino.
Now he’s ready to test that form in Québec on Friday and Montréal on Sunday.
The Belgian is driven by the thoughts of reclaiming the road race world title he won in 2022, and adding a record fourth TT gold.
If it all adds up, he will have the chance of doing something no other male rider has done before at the elite worlds: winning both the road race and TT in the same year.
But that’s next week: before then, shining on Friday and Sunday will be what he is aiming for.
He’s not the only one.
Pidcock building towards another world title
Tom Pidcock has already taken one world championship in recent weeks, the XC MTB worlds in Val di Sole, Italy.
He underlined on Sunday how well he has made the switch back to road racing, winning the GP Industria & Artigianato after a solo attack in the hilly finale.
He’s in fine form and, like Evenepoel, has exactly the sort of punch needed to win on the hilly Canadian circuits.
So too do Isaac del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG) and Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), third and fourth overall in the Tour.
Isaac Del Toro was the strongest rider in the Tour of Germany (Photo: Uli Deck/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Del Toro beat the 19 year old to the podium by just over two minutes, marking a successful end to his first-ever Tour campaign.
He’s since competed in the Lidl Deutschland Tour and shone, winning the prologue, taking second on two other stages and winning the overall.
Pogačar’s injury means that UAE will hope Del Toro can deliver in his stead.
Others who could impress are his former teammate Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek), seventh in the Tour, former Montréal and Québec winner Michael Matthews (Team Jayco AlUla), his Tour stage-winning teammate Mauro Schmid, 2025 worlds bronze medalist Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) and a trio of strong US riders, namely Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), Brandon McNulty (UAE Emirates-XRG) and Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek).
The latter’s Canadian teammate Derek Gee-West will be highly motivated on home soil, as will returning former pro Michael Woods, who is riding for Canada. He was an unexpended call up to the nation’s worlds team and will do both of the WorldTour races this week.
Power and perseverance a requirement
There will be plenty of scope to compare the form of the big guns: Friday’s Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec will, as ever, test punchy climbing ability while not being so difficult as to disadvantage versatile fastmen such as Matthews. Last year riders completed 18 ascents of a lap taking in the Côte de la Montagne. The same climb will feature 20 times this time around as part of a 10.3km circuit.
The total race distance will be 206km and there will be 2,780 meters of climbing.
Sunday’s Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal is far hillier – riders will notch up 4304 meters of climbing through 16 laps of a 13.4km circuit.
It’s a race even better suited to the strong climbers, with Pogačar winning twice in recent seasons and also being the strongest last year, but allowing McNulty to take the victory.
While some riders’ form is still building for the worlds, they will still go all out in the search for a confidence boost and also to have a competitive practice run in Montréal.