PREVIEW | GP de Montréal 2023 - Spectacular startlist promises explosive racing in toughest Canadian classic

Preview. The second round of the Canadian classics on the 10th of September will see the riders head to Montréal, where a circuit around the Mont-Royal will decide the race, which will take place on the 11th of September and conclude the week spent in Canada.

A total of 18 laps will be ridden in Montréal, all based around the Mont-Royal park, where the riders will spend the afternoon, however not only enjoying the scenery, but also having to go into a brutal race that will see plenty attacks and aggressive racing. There are over 4000 meters of climbing and 224 kilometers on the menu, making it harder and longer than Québec. There will also be more laps due to the shorter circuit, which is very explosive with three clear uphill sections and the rest of the circuit mostly downhill. The lap opens up immediately with it’s major feature, the Côte de Camilien-Houde, 1.7 kilometers at 7.6%. This will be the hardest section of the circuit and likely the one that will be attacked the hardest, finishing with 10.5 kilometers to go.

A very fast descent follows, with the Côte de Polytechnique coming after summiting with 6 kilometers to go, it is 800 meters long at 4.9% average gradient but goes up to 10%. And with 3 kilometers will be the Côte Pognuelo with 500 meters at 7.5%.

All three are very explosive climbs, where damage can be made. The riders will then very quickly travel back into the Avenue where the race is to finishing, going down it before turning back in the roundabout and within sight of the line. This won’t be a regular sprint however, with the final 600 meters featuring 4% of gradient which can alter the result of the sprints that will happen.

The Weather

The Québec race eluded the rain, the forecast isn't overly reliable. If we can trust it however, it is likely that we'll see rain early on in the day but it will stop towards the end of the race. The wind will blow from the northeast but it shouldn't affect the race much, having no specific effect on the climb, and the same can be said of the urban circuit.

The Favourites

UAE Team Emirates - The depth they could not use in Québec can be used here better. Although this is far from a race to attack from far, UAE do have the choice to do so and could form alliances. Diego Ulissi, Tim Wellens and Marc Hirschi will be the pure puncheurs whilst Adam Yates, Brandon McNulty and Rafal Majka the climbers. All six have chances of winning this race, they can play their cards in many ways.

Soudal - Quick-Step - Julian Alaphilippe was 9th in Québec, a good sign, but a race that ultimately ended in a bunch sprint. However, this is a race that suits him, he's a very experienced classics rider who can perform in these short hills and uphill sprint, whilst Ilan van Wilder and Mauro Schmid provide more cards for the Belgian team.

Bahrain - Victorious - Matej Mohoric was fifth in Québec, the best of the non-sprinters. His form looks good, his past few months terrific, and not only is his sprint strong but he can also climb quite well. He'll be a very interesting figure, with Bahrain having Pello Bilbao and Jack Haig as backups or riders to cover earlier moves in the race.

Team Jayco AlUla - Michael Matthews is a former winner here. Third in Québec he's got the form, and it's his type of race. It will be hard to shed sprinters, but of course, he risks winning the sprint for minor places as often happens. A good result is likely however, but Jayco have Simon Yates who can follow the best in the climbs on his best day, but can also support Matthews if the situation fits.

EF Education-EasyPost - Ben Healy and Neilson Powless both attacked in Québec but it wasn't a race for the attackers. The American team have cards, but it will be in these two puncheurs that the expectations will lie, however both are very strong cards.

Jumbo-Visma - Christophe Laporte was fifth in Québec, not the most promising result, he will be an outsider who can climb but will need quite some luck to fight for the victory. Tiesj Benoot isn't a rider who can sprint and isn't explosive so riding for the win will be a tough task, however he does have the chance to ride into a strong result.

AG2R Citroën Team - Ben O'Connor and Aurélien Paret-Peintre will be outsiders for the race, but the leader will be Benoît Cosnefroy. The Frenchman looked quite explosive in Québec, he was the only rider to really risk in the final lap and his attack was impressive. Of course, it won't be an effort that short making the winning attack, but if his form is to be trusted and he manages his efforts better he can fight for the win.

Cofidis - The French team have a few interesting cards on the table. Ion Izagirre may not have his best legs but after his Tour de France win he is to be considered, alongside Guillaume Martin who will be fond of the more climber-friendly Montréal. However the puncheurs are to keep under eye, Axel Zingle in the case of a sprint, Victor Lafay for the climbs, specially if he finds his Tour de France Grand Depart form.

But how strong can a startlist be? A lot, extremely strong... The sprinters that performed in Québec can all climb and will all be outsiders to watch here, in case the race is more conservative and comes back together. Arnaud De Lie, Corbin Strong, Alex Aranburu, Quinten Hermans and Alexander Kamp will be among those looking to use their sprint to go for a result on the day.

We will have more climbers who can take advantage of this tough ascent, INEOS will be led by Pavel Sivakov and Daniel Martínez, the likes of Matteo Jorgenson and Jai Hindley matching similar ambitions. In the more explosive side we have Michael Woods, Mattias Skjelmose and then pure puncheurs in Valentin Madouas and Maxim van Gils.

Prediction GP de Montréal 2023:

*** Mattias Skjelmose, Matej Mohoric, Marc Hirschi
** Adam Yates, Simon Yates, Neilson Powless
* Michael Matthews, Victor Lafay, Tim Wellens, Pello Bilbao, Corbin Strong, Valentin Madouas, Tiesj Benoot, Julian Alaphilippe, Christophe Laporte,

Pick: Marc Hirschi