Groupama-FDJ riders rushed to the Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau International Airport Subway on Tuesday afternoon.
After almost eight hours of flight between Paris and Montreal, the cyclists needed to regain their strength before jumping on a charter bus to Quebec, where they will compete in the Grand Prix de Quebec on Friday.
Attila Valter did not wait for his teammates to be served before unpacking his 12 inch into which he bit deeply. The 24-year-old Hungarian, pink jersey in the Tour of Italy last year, set foot in Canada for the first time in his life.
The mask did not help, he had a little trouble decoding the Quebec accent, but he still made a valiant effort to exchange a few words in French with the journalist who was on the line.
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A few minutes earlier, in the arrivals hall, his teammate David Gaudu announced the French team’s intentions for this revival of Canadian WorldTour events, put on ice since 2019 due to COVID-19.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS david gaudu
“We may not necessarily have the rider who can win the Grand Prix de Québec or the Grand Prix de Montréal”, first admitted the fourth in the last Tour de France.
“It’s still circuit racing. It might be rambling races. [Elles] haven’t happened for a while. Now, we see the racing styles that have totally changed. It remains completely disjointed styles. We will have to play on it. I think that collectively we can be strong enough. We will try to influence the race and I hope there will be a lot of movement. »
This kind of scenario would certainly please his teammate Antoine Duchesne, who arrived the day before from France with his girlfriend and his 4-month-old little Jules. The only concern for the Quebecer: a fractured ring finger at his recovery competition after his second Tour, on August 24.
“It’s not really ideal, but I still have my three main fingers to hold the handlebars,” he told us on the phone last week.
“The last month has been complicated”
Upon his return to Montreal, Duchesne received help from former cyclist Rémi Pelletier-Roy, a fifth-year orthopedic student, for the design of an adapted orthosis. He still does not know if he will wear it Friday in Quebec.
Duchesne also said he suffered from a serious saddle injury during the last week of the Tour. Returning to training with a bandage, he thinks his pedal stroke has gone wrong, which has caused him pain in his knee. It hardly ridden for a week.
“The last month has been complicated, but oddly, I feel good on the bike, rejoiced Duchesne. I’m going really fast right now. I still have confidence. I have already lined up with Quebec and Montreal by not doing the numbers I see now. »
His contractual situation is not clear for next year, but the soon-to-be 31-year-old has said he could say more this week.
Gaudu would like him to be able to distinguish himself at home. “If he can be in the breakaway, I don’t think he’s going to miss it,” said the French climber. It would be great to be able to see him at home in the breakaway. It would be good and it would reward his work as a teammate, his behind-the-scenes work that he has done throughout the Tour de France and for so many years. »
If there is one who has never been in the shadows here, it’s Greg Van Avermaet. In eight appearances in Canada, he has scored six podiums on the Grande Allée and won twice on Mount Royal, in 2016 and 2019.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS Greg Van Avermaet
“It’s been three years already,” noted the 37-year-old cyclist. It is still possible to get a good result. There are new riders who are maybe better than me at the moment. But I prepared well mentally and I’m ready, I think, to do something. »
The 2016 Olympic gold medalist identifies Australian Michael Matthews, defending champion in Quebec and two-time winner in 2018, as a serious contender for the crown.
But his real favorite is of course his compatriot Wout van Aert, the tank of Jumbo-Visma which will be in his first participation in the Quebec Grands Prix.
“He’s the new king of Belgium,” smiled Van Avermaet. He really has great strength. We also saw him in the Tour de France, he was so good [trois victoires d’étape]. Also in the mountains. The two races here are very good for him. It’s really the type of race that suits him when he’s running well. »
I think he has a good chance of winning both.
Greg Van Avermaet on fellow Belgian Wout van Aert
Like the Slovenian Tadej Pogačar, double winner of the Tour who will visit the Grands Prix for the first time, van Aert arrived by another flight than the two from Charles-de-Gaulle on Tuesday. The two main headliners of the event are due to meet the media on Wednesday.
Winner of the Bretagne Classic–Ouest-France, van Aert is also Romain Bardet’s “grandissime favourite”.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS Romain Bardet
“Behind, it remains very dense and in addition, there is the hunt for UCI points, however warned the sixth of the Tour. Teams have a lot of pressure too. »
Like Hugo Houle’s Israel-Premier Tech, who will visit some 1,400 “team members” at the Premier Tech factory in Rivière-du-Loup on Wednesday. A nice place to forget for a bit the merciless struggle to avoid relegation to the second division next year.
Boivin has found his bikes!
Guillaume Boivin had lost hope of finding his three lost bikes during his trip to the big start of the Tour de France in Denmark at the end of June. Air Canada even offered him a $2,000 gift certificate as compensation. An offer he refused, considering that the three frames had a total value of some… $50,000. Now more than two months later, the Israel-Premier Tech rider has received his three bikes. Her suitcase had arrived two weeks after her return…
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