August 23, 2011 – The organizing committee of the Québec City and Montréal Grands Prix Cyclistes is extremely pleased and proud to announce the names of the 176 cyclists entered in the only two UCI WorldTour races to be held in North America this year. The events, taking place on September 9 and 11, will feature the 18 UCI ProTeams as well as four wild-card Professional Continental teams.

Among the riders entered are an impressive number who have dictated and even dominated several races this season. Among the heavy favourites are Philippe Gilbert, Samuel Sanchez, Edvald Boassen Hagen and Andy Schleck, respectively 2nd, 6th, 8th and 9th in the most recent UCI WorldTour ranking.

Providing further proof that the best racers in the world right now are coming to Canada, the field includes six of the top eleven finishers in the 2011 Tour de France (Andy Schleck, 2nd, Samuel Sanchez, 6th, Damiano Cunego, 7th, Tom Danielson, 9th, Jean-°©-Christophe Péraud, 10th, and Pierre Rolland, 11th). This exciting line-up is further bolstered by high-calibre riders like Sandy Casar, Robert Gesink (last year’s winner in Montréal), Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie, former world champion Alessandro Ballan, and Ryder Hesjedal, Canada’s best cyclist since Steve Bauer.

Canadian and Québec cyclists well represented Besides Hesjedal, Canadian cycling will be well represented with a trio of athletes who regularly race in Europe, Michael Barry (Team Sky), David Veilleux (Europcar) and Dominique Rollin (FDJ), but also thanks to the Canadian-based squad SpiderTech Powered by C10, managed by Steve Bauer and comprising mostly local talents.

U.S. cyclists well represented The strong American contingent includes, as mentioned, Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie and Tom Danielson, as well as young sensation Tejay Van Garderen. All have had superb showings in the biggest races in the world this season.

“The peloton for the Québec City and Montréal Grands Prix Cyclistes is of a very high level indeed. We have riders who shone this summer in the Tour de France, along with many who have what it takes to triumph on two courses that are different but highly selective,” commented Charly Mottet, the Sports Manager for the Grands Prix. “The cyclists now know that we have a serious organization here, and you can tell they feel a strong incentive to outdo themselves in Québec City and Montréal,” he added.

Worldwide TV coverage The races on September 9 and 11 will be broadcast live in Québec on Évasion, the only network to cover both events from start to finish, with coverage across Canada on Rogers Sportsnet and Télévision de Radio-°©-Canada as well. Pre-°©-recorded coverage of the Grands Prix Cyclistes will also be featured on Setanta Sports, September 12 and 13. In the U.S., the races will be webcast live on cycling.tv and pre-°©-recorded on NESN (New England Sports Network). The Québec City and Montréal courses will also be showcased in more than 120 countries around the world thanks to extensive coverage on Eurosport France, Eurosport 2, Eurosport International, British Eurosport, Eurosport Asia/Pacific and Cycling TV Asia/Pacific. More information on TV coverage will be available soon on gpcqm.ca.

World premiere Fans won’t want to miss the inaugural edition of the Challenge Sprint Pro, featuring one racer from each of the 22 teams entered in the Grands Prix Cyclistes. The event is a series of knockout sprints featuring 3 to 4 riders each, over a one-°©-kilometre course. Discover this brand-°©-new, spectacular discipline on Télévision de Radio-°©-Canada (same-°©-day coverage on Thursday, September 8) and on Évasion (pre-°©- recorded, beginning at 10 a.m. on Sunday, September 11, immediately prior to live coverage of the Montréal Grand Prix Cycliste). It will be broadcasted in over 65 countries.

Les Grands Prix Cyclistes Québec – Montréal In 2009, the Grands Prix Cyclistes Québec–Montréal organization was granted the first two UCI licences for ProTour (WorldTour as of 2011) races in North America. The organization is responsible for planning and putting on races in Québec City and Montréal from 2010 to 2014. Please visit the website www.gpcqm.ca for more details on these races at the premier level of world cycling. We would like to thank our public partners, the Government of Canada, the Government of Québec, the City of Québec and the City of Montréal, as well as our private partners, Desjardins, KIA, Air Transat and Évasion.

Provisional Start List for Quebec City HERE.
Provisional Start List for Montreal HERE.