VIDEO Report: Today was course recon day — but with a pretty nice bonus: I followed the Men’s U23 World Championship road race around Montréal while exploring the circuit myself. So instead of just looking at a map and elevation profile, I got to see how this course actually races when there’s a rainbow jersey on the line.
I started on Avenue du Parc, home to the start/finish, grandstands and Fan Zone, before heading out onto the circuit and straight toward Mount Royal. From there it’s up and over the mountain, and this is where you really begin to appreciate what the riders are facing.
The main climb is long enough to hurt, but what struck me most was how little opportunity there is to really switch off afterwards. Over the top, down the fast descent, through the turns and past the fans — all while trying to keep tabs on the U23 race unfolding around me.
Then it was time to climb again, this time up toward Polytechnique, where the gradients get considerably nastier. Shorter, steeper and exactly the kind of climb that starts taking a serious toll after multiple laps.
I continued around the backside of the course, checking out the descents, corners, climbs and different vantage points — while periodically meeting up with the race again as the U23 field came blasting through.
And that’s when the real character of this circuit became obvious. There’s almost nowhere to hide. Climb. Descend. Corner. Accelerate. Reposition. Climb again. Then do it all over again. And again.
The individual climbs might not look terrifying on paper, but string the whole circuit together and repeat it lap after lap at World Championship speed, and Montréal becomes a completely different animal.
Doing my course recon while an actual World Championship road race was happening around me was the perfect way to see it. Today I saw how the course works. This weekend we’ll see what happens when the world’s best Elite riders hit these same roads with the rainbow jersey on the line.
More PEZ Roadside from Montréal coming. #PEZCyclingNews #Montreal2026 #UCIWorlds #WorldChampionships #RoadCycling #Cycling #Montreal #MontRoyal #PEZRoadside #CyclingLife #BikeRacing
See all the PEZ World Championships coverage here
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