1. Tadej Pogacar is ready for the World Championships
With him, it’s always the same story. Watching Tadej Pogacar fly towards victory 23km from the finish in Montreal, a vague feeling of déjà vu came back to haunt us. Like watching a film that we’ve already watched ten times and whose lines we know by heart. His rest of almost two months after the Tour and his absence from the Olympics had raised some doubts about the Slovenian’s physical condition less than two weeks before the World Championships. Doubts that he dispelled in style this Sunday by showing that nothing had changed since Nice, where he left wearing a yellow jersey on his shoulders.
In a few days in Zurich, the line-up will be different, since we will find all the best riders on the planet. Mathieu van der Poel and Remco Evenepoel should be the Slovenian’s main opponents, on a course that seems to suit him better than last year in Glasgow. Especially since Pogi will arrive with full confidence: “It’s a great boost for the Worlds and it adds some extra confidence. I’m looking forward to Zurich. I’ll go home and continue working on my last training sessions and I’ll be ready.”
2. Bini is an idol all over the world
It’s noon Saturday in front of the Delta Hotel when Biniam Girmay gets off the bus that’s stopping in Montreal for the second Canadian Grand Prix of the weekend. Barely after setting foot on the ground, his supporters, with their T-shirts dyed in the colours of Eritrea, are already waiting for him. But that’s nothing. Nothing compared to the Eritrean crowd, massed on the finish line of the Montreal Grand Prix on Sunday. And who were holding up signs tagged: “Veni, Vidi, Bini”.
Under the blue sky and the blazing heat, you had to know that you were staying in Montreal. Otherwise, you could have thought you were at the Eritrean national championships. The fervor around the green jersey was so present. It is all year round in reality on the old continent. But seeing it travel all the way to the other side of the Atlantic is quite surprising. If he did not win on the banks of the Saint Lawrence River, his second place in Quebec will at least have consoled his supporters, loyal in all circumstances.
3. The Dtsny Lotto: between demonstration and procrastination
It is not clear what Stéphane Heulot’s Belgian team will remember from their Canadian weekend. Was it seeing Arnaud De Lie follow Tadej Pogacar when the latter attacked in the final hectometres in Quebec? Or rather the small strategic error of the Bull of Lescheret who hesitated with the Slovenian to finally be caught in the sprint by Michael Matthews? Or that moment, a little suspended, when in the final moments of the race three Lotto Dstny surrounded, according to the Libramont native, “the best runner in the world” ?
There will surely be a bit of all that when the time comes to take stock. But the Belgian champion, who retired at the end of the Montreal GP, will at least be able to bring back to his Canadian luggage the certainty that he has a high-level team around him. “It promises for the future”he had just let slip at the end of the Quebec GP on Friday.
4. Canada is not a cycling country, but can hope to be one day
No, Canada is not a land of cycling. And you only have to ask the people on the ground to realize this. “Cycling is still very little followed. It is not on popular channels, so it is not easy to follow a race on TV here”Hugo Houle, Israel-Premier Tech rider, told us on Thursday. It must be said that North America does not have any World Tour races other than these two Grands Prix. But seeing the number of supporters present on the side of the roads, we can tell that the potential is there. “Yes, there are more people present than last year; we saw it this morning.”Michel, a volunteer at the Grand Prix de Québec, told us. The 2026 World Championships in Montreal could continue to grow the popularity of this sport here. Which brought together around 200,000 people this weekend.
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