September 8, 2010 (Quebec City, QC) – The Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec held a press conference this morning in Quebec City with Serge Arsenault (ProTour organizer), Denis Lebel (federal Minister of State Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec) Régis Labeaume (Mayor of Quebec City), Pat McQuaid (UCI President) and Richard Garneau (Sports Commentator).

The honorable Denis Lebel said that the government of Canada was proud to support this major international event, and that these two races are a “rare opportunity to enhance our international profile of Quebec and Montreal.”

“We really wanted to return to the American continent and here we are,” said McQuaid. He went on to express “on behalf of the great family of cycling” his sincere thanks to promoter Serge Arsenault whose “enthusiasm and competence has made this fantastic new opportunity a reality” adding “i am convinced that that this first edition of the UCI Protour doubleheader will be the start of a long love affair between the province and cycling”

During a Q and A session when asked what the budget for the GP was Arsenault jokingly responded “450 million Euros”, which got a huge laugh from everyone at the head table. He went on to say that the actual budget was $4.2 million for both races.

McQuaid said that with the pressures of globalization and big interest, he would be going back to the UCI management committee with the recommendation that the current policy of having the road Worlds outside of Europe every seven years be reduced to five years. He went on to say that it would give the organizers here a year to prepare if they were interested in submitting a bid for consideration for the 2015 championships.

A total of 176 of the world’s top racers from 22 teams, 18 of which are part of the ProTour, arrived in Québec City yesterday. The Quebec City ProTour start is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 10 on Grande-Allée, opposite George V Park. “This race will be broadcast live on Évasion and Radio-Canada and can be seen in over 60 countries,” added Arsenault.

The action begins with a demonstration event, the Challenge Sprint, on Thursday, from 5-6 p.m., featuring top Canadian riders including Dominique Rollin, Martin Gilbert, Will Routely and others – read more here.

Michael Barry is not on the Team Sky list and has been replaced by Christopher Froome (Gbr). Barry confirmed he’s not racing sending us the following email – “I won’t be racing this week as I haven’t recovered well from two recent crashes. On the second stage of the Tour I fell and broke a rib. I fell on the same side again during the Eneco Tour and broke another rib. Due to the two fractures and some complications I haven’t been able to ride or train properly and therefore, sadly, won’t be able to race there. I am disappointed as both races were major objectives for me as the courses suited my abilities well and racing in Canada is something I always look forward to.”

The Team Canada p/b SpiderTech roster is below – for the updated ProTour start list for QCity click HERE and visit www.protourquebecmontreal.com for more info.

Team Canada p/b SpiderTech
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– Dominique Rollin
– Guillaume Boivin
– Charles Dionne
– Keven Lacombe
– Bruno Langlois
– François Parisien
– Will Routley
– David Veilleux

– Reserves: Ryan Anderson, David Boily