🎥 Van der Poel, Van Aert, Evenepoel and Vollering recon the road race route in Montreal, with a few former pros

Early in the morning, IDL Pro Cycling did our own recon—but on foot. Here are three brief conclusions we were able to draw: the 500-meter finish stretch with a 4 percent grade also plays a role in the subsequent climb to Cote de Camillien-Houde (1.5 kilometers at 7.6 percent).

After that, it’s mostly a lot of gentle descents and picking up speed, and several national team coaches confided in us that a rider like Remco Evenepoel shouldn’t be allowed more than 10 meters of lead during that phase. And, point 3: the uphill stretch past the university, with its three-stage climb, is tougher than the numbers suggest. It’s 800 meters at a 6 percent grade, but it’s actually more like three 150-meter sections at 10 to 11 percent. A tricky one.

Van der Poel arrived in Canada at 10:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday, after which he headed to the Dutch team’s hotel in nearby Boucherville. There, the Dutch team completed a 37-kilometer ride in the afternoon, knowing that a more intense training session was scheduled for the following day.

That training ride was partly dedicated to scouting the course in Montreal, but they also added another segment afterward. Incidentally, Van der Poel didn’t do the laps in the Canadian city so much with the other Dutch riders, but rather with his regular riding partners Freddy Ovett and Greg Van Avermaet. He also often goes out for rides with the Belgian, who is an ambassador for the World Championships in Montreal.

Did they join in, too? George Hincapie and his son Enzo, racing in the junior category. In Van der Poel’s wake, we also saw youth national team coach Tom Leezer, Demi Vollering, and—on a bright yellow rental scooter—women’s national team coach Laurens ten Dam pass by. Van der Poel also put the pedal to the metal on the final climb up the Cote de Camillien-Houde, where Van Avermaet couldn’t keep up.

The Belgian completed that section in 4 minutes and 7 seconds, a full 20 seconds slower than his record time from 2018. Incidentally, the fastest times on the recon day—so far—came from Belgian U23 riders Bert Bolle and Matisse Van Kerckhove, who completed the section in 4 minutes and 1 minute, respectively. Tadej Pogacar took 3 minutes and 27 seconds to complete the course when he won the 2024 GP Montreal.

Van der Poel will speak with the press again on Thursday evening, at which point we’ll know what he thinks after the recon, but as he was leaving Zaventem, he shared his thoughts on the course once more. “I stand by what I said earlier. Luxembourg hasn’t changed anything there. The World Championship course is simply on the difficult side for riders of my weight. I think everyone agrees on that,” he said.