Montreal drivers were warned that traffic would be unbearable this month, with dozens of street closures for the 13 road bike events held during the UCI World Road Championships.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
Christmas came early this year for Montreal’s recreational cyclists and aspiring Tour de France contenders after the city repaved Voie Camillien-Houde, the steep roadway that leads to the top of Mount Royal. Two-wheel aficionados were practically giddy when they got to try out the new smooth-as-silk pavement in July after years of having to navigate epic potholes and asphalt years past its best-before date.
The repaving of Camillien-Houde, which rises 134 metres along an average gradient of almost 8 per cent, was part of a blitz of road repairs the city undertook in advance of hosting the UCI World Road Championships, an eight-day event that culminates with Sunday’s men’s final. The race will see top cyclists compete for the coveted UCI (Union cycliste internationale) rainbow jersey along a 273-kilometre course that includes 12 laps around Mount Royal and as many climbs up Camillien-Houde.
The defending world champion, Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, will not race on Sunday. The five-time Tour de France winner broke his collarbone after crashing last month in the Tour of Spain. But his absence should make for a more exciting and competitive final as Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel, France’s Paul Seixas and Mexico’s Isaac del Toro, among others, vie for the crown.
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If you don’t recognize any of those names, it may be because competitive cycling is still a somewhat marginal sport in North America. Except in Quebec, which is (almost) as bike crazy as any European country. Montreal and Quebec City are still the only North American cities to host annual races on the UCI World Tour, each of which draw tens of thousands of spectators along their respective routes.
If Canada is the most the European of non-European countries, as Prime Minister Mark Carney says, then Montreal is the most European of large non-European cities. While its temperament, French flavour and architecture give it a decidedly old continent vibe, its cycling culture is also a distinct feature of its Europeanness.
Montreal is ranked North America’s most bike-friendly city, according to the Copenhagenize Index. (Sorry, Doug Ford.) The Quebec metropolis is 15th in the world overall. The 14 cities that outrank it are all in Europe. Montreal’s BIXI pioneered bike sharing in North America and has racked up more than 100 million trips since launching in 2009.
That made Montreal a natural choice location for this year’s world cycling championships.
Competitors race in the under-23 women’s road race on the streets of Montreal on Thursday. The UCI event appears to be a relative bargain for taxpayers, compared with other international sporting events.ANDREJ IVANOV/AFP/Getty Images
In all, about 1,000 elite cyclists descended on the city this week to race in 13 events in what organizers describe as the biggest international sporting event the city has hosted since the 1976 Summer Olympics. Only, this time, Quebeckers will not be left with any white elephants like the Olympic Stadium, which remains a drag on the public purse.
In 2021, Montreal took a pass on hosting any FIFA World Cup matches this year over concerns about the hundreds of millions of dollars it would have cost to upgrade the 50-year-old stadium to meet FIFA standards. (The stadium is currently undergoing a $1-billion-plus renovation, including the addition of a new permanent roof, anyway.)
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The budget for the UCI championships is estimated at around $40-million with the federal, provincial and municipal governments footing about three-quarters of the bill. From a cost-benefit perspective, that makes the event a relative bargain for taxpayers. The event is expected to generate $155-million in economic benefits as 5,000 national team members and thousands of cycling fans fill the city’s hotels and restaurants to near capacity.
Not everyone is thrilled. Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada warned drivers in advance to expect traffic “hell” stemming from dozens of full or partial street closures. Pamphlets were sent to residents to advise them of the inconveniences and to plan their commutes accordingly. The city offered a discount to encourage commuters to use public transit during September. Even so, local news broadcasts have featured plenty of angry drivers bellyaching about labyrinthine detours and being stuck in traffic.
Time-trial races like this relay event featuring the Spanish men’s team ran through patched-up downtown streets.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
Italian cyclist Filippo Ganna, who finished second in the men’s time-trial event held last Sunday, caused a stir when he complained about city roads being “unworthy” of a world-championship race. The 39-kilometre-long time-trial ran mostly through downtown streets that had been patched, but not repaved, in advance of the race.
Still, most of Sunday’s race will play out along freshly paved roads through suburban Montreal, along the St. Lawrence River and on the punishing final laps around Mount Royal.
By Monday, local cyclists will once again be able to test their limits on fall rides up Camillien-Houde without worrying about blowing a tire on a crater-sized pothole. A tough winter could lay waste to the sleek pavement. But for now, Montreal is living out its cycling fantasy in the most European way possible.