Québec city, ready to host inaugural Tour de Québec in September.
On September 4th, the inaugural Tour de Québec will launch inside old Quebec fortifications. These ramparts surrounding Old Quebec are the only remaining fortified city walls in the Americas north of Mexico, and were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985 as the “Historic District of Old Quebec. The prologue consist of a 250m, drag race style, sprint toward the Portes St-Jean fortifications where two riders will face each other to set the fastest time and wear the leader jerseys presented by Champion System.
Other stages include a 113km road race (details still to be confirmed) in Beaupré with a finish next to the Basilique St-Anne will commemorate its 350th anniversary this year. Saturday will see a technical criterium around the parliament in downtown Quebec city with a finish on the Canadian Champs élisées (the Grande Allée) followed by another criterium at Lévis along the St-Laurent river. Le Tour de Québec will end Sunday the 7th with another road race of 140km in St-Augustin.
National sanctioned cycling stage race
Sanctioned by the Canadian Cycling Association, teams from all over Canada are expected to attend the event as well as many teams coming from the United States. «In the Pro 1-2 men category, we expect at least 10 local teams from the Quebec province, of which several confirmed participation. 3-4 teams from Ontario, riders from the maritimes and Team H&R Block from British Colombia will assure a very strong canadian participation while Vermont Composite and Met-Life Pro AM from the USA will send full squad to the Tour.» Still in negotiation with many US teams, the organization hope to add 2-3 more US teams and also revealed the possible participation of teams from France, Belgium and Nigeria, making the Tour de Québec, an international event.
Three races, 19 000$ in cash prizes, 4 leader jersey
Le Tour de Québec is also open to other categories. The Elite womens race will consist of the final 3 stages of the Pro 1-2 men race. The women race is open to professional women teams as well as cat 3 and junior female riders. 3 370$ and 4 leader jerseys are also on the table. The juniors, masters and senior 3-4 are all mixed up in another Cat 3 field which also contest 4 leader jersey and 2 485$ prizes. The Pro 1-2 category will contest over 12 000$ in cash prizes over the 4 days, an important total compared to the other races in Canada.
For more information, consult www.tourdequebec.com
Registration is now open at Bikereg.com