An ideal city for the World Championships

 

Greg Van Avermaet 

Photo: Yves Perret/ GPCQM

Greg Van Avermaet, champion from Rio de Janeiro was at the Canadian WorldTour races, serving as ambassador for the 2026 World Cycling Championships in Montéal. Van Avermaet shares his insights about the 2026 Montréal Road World Championships course to a handful of journalists on Saturday afternoon. 

The location is ideal for holding such an event, felt the twice-crowned champion, in 2016 and 2019. "It's a very tough, very beautiful course for a world championship. It's an ideal course for both spectators and riders. No matter where in the world it's not easy to find a course like this in a big city like Montréal, " he described. 

Event organizers, the same as those for the Grands Prix cyclistes de Québec and Montréal, unveiled the route of the two flagship events, starting in Brossard. The women will compete a 40-km loop that will take them from Carignan to Chambly, then to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, before returning to Brossard and the Samuel-De Champlain Bridge. The men will ride for around 100km on flat terrain, passing through the farmlands of Richelieu, Saint-Jean-Baptiste, Mont-Saint-Hilario and Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu before crossing the St. Lawrence River. They will then tackle a slightly longer circuit of Mont Royal 12 times. 

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Why Greg Van Avermaet? Because the 40-year-old Olympic champion, retired two years ago and a leading rider in the Québec classics (nine podium finishes, a record), has been named ambassador by the Montréal 2026 organization. 

The former 'King of Flanders' adds, "It's a great honor for me because I'm still far from home. I'm not sure I'd be asked to be an ambassador if there were a world championship in Belgium. It's thanks to the organization and the results I achieved in Montréal, It's very special to be here. The public is a little different; they know cycling well, but not like back home. Those who come to the race are truly passionate about cycling because it's the only WorldTour event in North America. It's always special for me when a spectator asks me for an autograph or a photo, because I'm very far from home."

His thoughts on the Grand Prix course:

"I think a classics rider has a great chance too, even if they're not a climber. They will need to have a good day. As a competitor you have to try to rely on your own strengths and see if you can make a chance on a course like this. It's a very beautiful course to race on. You already get the World Championship feeling during this Grand Prix, and next year that will become reality. It's great that the riders already know the course, because often it's in a location where no racing has ever been done, so this makes this race a little different. It does change things, if I were still racing, I would really appreciate this. I have good memories of the Montréal course and you know what to expect. At other world championships, it's often a big question mark how hard it will be. 

I have a good relationship with the organization and have won in Montréal twice, so that helps, I've started here ten times, and when a World Championship is organized, they come to me. But they also have other riders in their country. It's nice to come back once again, without having my bike with me."