September 4, 2009 (Montreal, QC) – In June we reported that that two ProTour races will be coming to Canada in September 2010 – one in Quebec City and another in Montreal. We caught up with Canadian ProTour organizer Serge Arsenault, owner of Canal Evasion and Serdy Video, earlier today to get an update on this exciting news.

Where are the negotiations at?
Serge Arsenault: “Well, the UCI was recently here checking things out and Alain Rumpf, the UCI ProTour manager and Charly Mottet, the UCI’s technical delegate just got back on the airplane for Geneva last night. They were astonished by the beauty of the courses in Quebec City and in Montreal.

Previously, it was announced that the first ProTour would be in Montreal on Friday, followed by Quebec City on Sunday?
SA: No, that has changed. We can’t shut down a big city like Montreal on a Friday in Sept., but the race can be held easily at that time in Quebec City on Sept. 10 in 2010. There will be a special train to transport the cyclists to Montreal on Saturday. Then the Montreal ProTour will be held on Sunday, Sept. 12. And we’re adding a U23 race from Baie St. Paul in the Charlevoix region near Quebec City.

When we spoke previously you said that things were 97% confirmed. What’s the situation now?
SA: Things are 99.9% settled now. We have to wait one week for the UCI’s final approval. We are going to have eight cyclists per team, the same as the big races in Europe. The teams had asked for six, but why should it be different here? We should have the same quality of racing here in North America.

What can you tell us about the courses?
SA: The Quebec City race will be about 185km and include one steep hill. We will take advantage of the Plains of Abraham as a place for spectators. Montreal will be about 210km and will go over Mount Royal and spectators will have Mount Royal Park to use to watch the action. With both races, each lap will be a little less than 13km. And we are pleased to have the full collaboration of both cities, including police and fire fighting forces. It’s exactly the course we wanted.

Quebec city will not be a gift, nor simply a training ride for Montreal. It will be just as tough as the Montreal race. The Montreal course will go over Mount Royal, then down to Gatineau Street, Cote Ste Catherine, and back to Park Avenue almost down to Pine Avenue before turning around. The feed zone will be on Park Avenue just after the Georges Etienne Cartier statue.

What about the U23 race?
SA: Yes, we are hoping to stage this race on Thursday, September 9. We don’t want to steal the spotlight away from the U23 riders by starting them on the same day as the ProTour riders. The distance from Baie St. Paul is about 100km but we are also looking at having the riders add one lap of the course in Quebec City.

This is a great development for North American cycling. We often feel like this is a forgotten corner of the world.
SA: It is not good that so many top cycling events are concentrated in Europe and this will change soon. Not only North America, but also Russia, China, California, and Australia are getting on the band wagon. The UCI is embracing globalization and the riders are ready as well. Cycling has to expand, much the way Formula 1 racing did.

These races in Quebec by coincidence happen during television prime time [evening] in Europe, so this is good. Boston, as a possible venue, is in close range to expand events in the future. The support vehicles represent a fleet of about 100 cars so it makes sense to have another venue in the region. It’s more difficult to extend events of this magnitude to the West Coast of North America.

Amaury Sports and Unipublic have a lot of power within the ProTour circuit because they control many of the top races. Will this control will be challenged with more races outside of Europe.
SA: Yes, and the new dynamic will help teams that either have a bad experience at the Tour de France, or those that miss the event. The TdF will become one of a dozen or so major races in the future. Amaury was not willing to help. We still have some 95% of team sponsors concentrated in Europe, but this will change as well by expanding the venues of major races and resulting television coverage. ProTour racing will be televised all over the world.

How does the future look?
SA: The UCI is excited about these North American ProTour races and believes they will also provide better training for the Road Worlds [usually held in late September] than a big tour. I don’t want to throw stones at the Vuelta, but things are not going well there and they are having problems getting the event televised. [the 2009 Vuelta runs from Aug 29 to Sept 20 and conceivably would conflict with the Quebec City and Montreal ProTour races in 2010].

Now that most details are settled what’s next on your agenda?
SA: Well my real work is finished. Over the next weeks I only have to organize all of this – and the upcoming press conference on Sunday, Sept. 20.

Will UCI President Pat McQuaid be at the press conference?
SA: There will be top people from the UCI at the 10am press conference in Quebec City and 2:30pm conference in Montreal, but McQuaid probably will not be there. He cannot be in two places at the same time and the Road Worlds will start in Switzerland on September 23. But we expect to have McQuaid beamed in live. There will be federal and provincial politicians and mayors there, too. And we’ve had superb support from the Canadian Cycling Association (CCA).

Thank you, Serge – this will be terrific for Canada’s cycling community and best of luck with everything.
SA: Thank you.