Velominati Super Prestige: 2011 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal

The Hope of a Nation. Photo: Velonews

Americans love making fun of Canada. I suppose that even the very fact that we call ourselves “American’s” and not “United Statesians” is a bit of a slap in Canada’s face, but the fact of the matter is that, apart from their odd unit of measure and equally odd postal system, there isn’t much wrong with Canada. In fact, Canada even hosts the only North American cycling event that we consider worthy of a VSP; the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal. (That’s not entirely true; we consider the GP Cycliste Québec, which took place today, to be equally worthy, but we got our timing wrong and everyone knows that revising your model is better than admitting you made a mistake.)

The eastern part of Canada has it all: hills, towns filled with a European atmosphere, and – most importantly – cycling fanatics. Indeed, this is a serious race which boasts serious statistics; with 4,000 meters of climbing over 200 kilometers, it surely stands alongside classics like La Doyenne in terms of sheer difficulty. But unlike the classics and more like a World Championship course, the GP Cycliste Montréal is contested over a circuit, which is good for the fans and gives the riders ample opportunity to decide where they will launch their winning move or, more likely, which of the steep hills will stamp their ticket to the Hurt Locker when the spindly Dutch climbers move to the front and pump up the jam.

But knowing a few things about a course doesn’t make picking a winner any easier. If GP Cycliste Québec showed us anything, it’s that always gambling on the Big Rider with the Big Name doesn’t assure one of getting any points. Besides, what’s the fun in always picking the same bloke? Take a look at the start list, because the geniuses over at the UCI Scheduling Committee made sure to schedule this in conflict with the Vuelta, so not everyone you want to see will be on the startlist. Use your Powers of Deductionâ„¢ to decide your Top V, fill in the blanks and pick up an Obey The Rules bumper sticker for your trouble.

Good luck.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

Cyclops says:

Sep 9 2011 at 9:54 am

VSP PICKS:

1. Gilbert Grape
2. Jeff LOUDER
3. Boss Hogg
4. I Love You Ryder #1
5. Gesinkheit
xyxax says:

Sep 9 2011 at 10:30 am

I found a 2011 start list here.
sgt says:

Sep 9 2011 at 10:41 am

VSP PICKS:

1. Pheeleep
2. Brice
3. TJ
4. EBH
5. Tommy D
Jonny says:

Sep 9 2011 at 10:47 am

Due to some IT imposed exile I've missed a few weeks on here. Let's see if my VSP skills have improved any...

VSP PICKS:

1. EBH
2. Hoogerland
3. P Gilbert
4. Hesjedal
5. M Gilbert
jimmy says:

Sep 9 2011 at 10:56 am

while i know the majority of this is highly unlikely, i could give a shit less either way. i just want to watch the thing and see what happens which i also won't get to do due to working SAG stops for unprepared century hounds...

VSP PICKS:

1. gilbert
2. van garderen
3. hesjedal
4. hoogerland
5. i am not ted king
tony macaroni says:

Sep 9 2011 at 10:57 am

VSP PICKS:

1. Boss Hogg
2. Ryder
3. Sammy Saycheez
4. Giblets
5. Welcome to Hoogerland
Pedale.Forchetta says:

Sep 9 2011 at 11:09 am

Hello! Here my picks!

VSP PICKS:

1. P. Gilbert
2. R. Hesjedal
3. A. Ballan
4. R. Di Gregorio
5. J. Hoogerland
Godsight says:

Sep 9 2011 at 11:12 am

While quebec is always steep be it downhill or uphill with only one flat portion in the middle but very windy ( it is the coastal road of the st-lawrence river)and favors more puncheur like Boss hogg and L'ours des ardennes. MontrÃ©al is more for the climber with one relatively big hill, then downhill to the next hill and then downhill right to a bit before the start/finish line where it goes back to the sky. As for quÃ©bec probably the last 5km are all uphill and for the last 1k-500m with a headwind. During the sprint challenge, if i remember well, they never got faster than 50kph and that was with about the same conditions as today.

I also had the chance to see the rider before the start, Boss hogg is very shy and not talking alot ( i just realised too that the whole sky team sitted beside me during the sprint challenge watching their teammate Jeremy Hunt race and talks to a velonews editor). Gilbert is very relax,calm but dont talk alot too, while local hero david veilleux was talking to everybody while Hoogerland was just a ghost, we saw him pass like if he was not there, it took many of us a while to realize that the giant that passed us was Hoogerland. And Dirty sanchez is injuried, got in a accident wednesday and while at the press conference he said he would be alright, when he got off, you could clearly see that he had trouble walking.

For the race as entertainment, get there on a bike( so you can move from place to place quickly) and go for the start unlees you can wait for hours to keep your spot at the finish line you are better off checking every rider before the start and then go watch confortably on the tv. The challenge sprint was more interesting for spectator, and that 4-5% climb as the last part of sprint made thing very interesting, it was also fun to see all the different tactics than you can use in those kind of sprint. In the final, they were almost at a walking pace right until the 250m mark before the sprint started while in some, a rider would attack right at the beginning and try to keep his lead for the whole kilometer.

VSP PICKS:

1. Hedjesdal
2. Gerrans
3. Leipheimer
4. Pierre Rolland
5. Gesink
Jeff in PetroMetro says:

Sep 9 2011 at 11:13 am

Clearly I have no idea what I'm doing. But, apparently, Ryder knows what's up. He gets all the cute girls.

VSP PICKS:

1. Phillip Gilbert
2. Simon Gerrans
3. Ryder Hesjedal
4. Tejay Van Garderen
5. Svein Tuft
chubster says:

Sep 9 2011 at 11:29 am

ridden this many x. super great circuit for a race. the road is really beaten up in spots though the section up and down the mont royal has been repaved now. it's super tough so there will be a selection but the winner likely decided on tactics. don't recall seeing anyone strong enough to ride away on their own if the pack wanted to chase. all the tops will be heavily marked, maybe setting the stage for a strong non-favorite to get away. best team with more than one guy left near the end could win with the #2 taking off as the #1 will get marked out.

VSP PICKS:

1. sagan
2. lloyd
3. sanchez