Preview GP Montreal 2025 | A crucial final rehearsal ahead of 2026!

The list of winners of the GP Montréal shows what you need to have in your legs to win the race: as much juice in your legs as the Canadians have on their poutine. We see only one-day sprinters on the list of winners, although there has been a shift since the coronavirus break: whereas it used to be a race for the Flemish types, after last year, it seems to be leaning more towards the climbers.

In 2024, Tadej Pogacar won the race in Montréal, where the 2026 World Cycling Championships will also be held. The Slovenian from UAE-Team Emirates rode away solo to claim his team's third consecutive victory in this Canadian race. Adam Yates won the year before, while Pogacar himself was also the best in 2022.

2024 Tadej Pogacar
2023 Adam Yates
2022 Tadej Pogacar
2021 Canceled
2020 Canceled
2019 Greg Van Avermaet
2018 Michael Matthews
2017 Diego Ulissi
2016 Greg Van Avermaet
2015 Tim Wellens

The course is the same as in all other years: a total of seventeen laps must be completed in Montréal. For the quick calculators among us: that is 269 per lap, spread over four climbs: the Cote de Camillien-Houde is the first and also the hardest. This hill is 1.8 kilometers long and has an average gradient of eight percent.

This is followed by a descent to the Cote Polytechnique, 780 meters at six percent. The steepest 200 meters are also 11 percent, making it one of the potentially crucial hills. After that, there is the Pagnuelo climb in the Parc du Mont Royal (600 meters at seven percent) and a fast descent to the final few hundred meters.

Timing will be crucial on the finish stretch, which climbs at 4% for about 560 meters, right next to the beautiful Mont Royal climb in the Canadian city. If you use up too much energy, you'll come to a standstill here. However, a solo effort—like Tadej Pogacar's last year—can make the situation a little easier.

Weather
The temperature in Montréal on Sunday is estimated to be around 22 degrees Celsius. There is a chance of rain during the day, but with a moderate wind, it probably won't be too crazy.

Times
Start: 10:15 AM local time
Finish: 3:45 PM local time

Let's not beat around the bush: there is really only one top favorite for this GP Montréal, and that is Tadej Pogacar. Since the course was made more difficult, it has always been right up the alley of the Slovenian from UAE Emirates-XRG. On Friday, he was not quite able to push through with his attack in Quebec, but with that toughness, he will undoubtedly get a little further on Sunday.

He also has by far the best team to serve as a launching pad, with riders such as former winners Tim Wellens and Adam Yates, Quebec runner-up Pavel Sivakov, Jhonatan Narváez, and Brandon McNulty. Try to outride that on a course like Montréal as a contender...

In Quebec, we saw the ‘old’ Julian Alaphilippe back on behalf of Tudor, which was good to see. The Frenchman also finished third in Montréal last year, so he is once again a contender. Alberto Bettiol (XDS-Astana, third) and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek, fourth) also made a strong impression in the leading group. The latter has another good rider in his ranks in Quinn Simmons.

The results in Quebec are not usually directly transferable to Montréal. More climbing types, such as Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), and Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL), may have a greater advantage. However, the latter two did not make a good impression on Friday.

On a good day, strong sprinters such as Arnaud De Lie (Lotto), Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla), Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech), Dorian Godon, Paul Lapeira (Decathlon AG2R), Simone Velasco (XDS-Astana), Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), and Alex Aranburu (Cofidis) could also finish in the top spots, but winning seems too much to ask.

Visma | Lease a Bike can move forward in both scenarios with Wout van Aert and Tiesj Benoot, who will both be aiming for next year's World Championships in Montréal. However, after Quebec, Van Aert indicated that he probably doesn't have the legs to win, but we're happy to be surprised again on Sunday. Alpecin-Deceuninck also has two World Championship contenders in Xandro Meurisse and Quinten Hermans, who rode well on Friday.

Top favorite: Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates-XRG)
Outsiders: Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor), Adam Yates, Brandon McNulty (UAE Emirates-XRG) and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto)
Longshots: Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla), Wout van Aert, Tiesj Benoot (Visma | Lease a Bike), Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech), Paul Lapeira (Decathlon AG2R), Neilso Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Alberto Bettiol (XDS-Astana), Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X) and Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ)

Just like the GP Quebec, you will have to tune in to Eurosport 1 or HBO Max for the GP Montréal. The race will be broadcast in full.