Looking for a unique activity to participate in this Sunday, why not be a spectator at this fabulous world cycling event!
Fans of world-calibre cycling, à la Tour de France, will be lining the route of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal, taking place at and around Mont Royal Park on Sunday, September 9. The race comes to Montreal just as the hottest days of summer fade into memory and the air begins to get a crisp edge to it: the perfect time to watch top athletes sweat it out in a picturesque setting.
The race’s 168 competitors gather at 10 a.m. Sunday morning at the Grand Prix Cycliste start/finish line on Park Avenue, centrally located near Jeanne-Mance Park, just north of the Georges-Étienne Cartier Monument. The race begins at 11 a.m.; over the next five hours, cyclists will do 17 laps of the 12.1 kilometre course, totalling 205.7 kilometres with a total of 3893 metres in race altitude difference.
The Grand Prix Cycliste can be watched from anywhere throughout the course, but special food and refreshment zones for spectators will be set up in two popular spots: in Jeanne-Mance Park and the Montée Camillien-Houde lookout on Mont Royal. Anyone who wants to take a part of the race home with them, is free to take photos – and this year the GPCQM organizers have made cycling jerseys, shorts, t-shirts, accessories and more, available at boutiques along the race course.
Spectators might even get a few minutes of fame too: The Grand Prix Cyclistes Montreal and Quebec City races will be broadcast on television in Canada on TVA, TVA Sports and Sportsnets, in the USA on NESN, and in Europe on Eurosport, as well as broadcast online on cycling.tv.