Photograph from the ViaVélo collection. Courtesy of Sampson McFerrin
A group of artists who cycled Canada from coast-to-coast displayed their photographs at the Woodnote.
ViaVélo was a temporary photography exhibition organized by Concordia student Sampson McFerrin and Luke Welton at the Woodnote Solidarity Cooperative between Sept. 15 and 17. The Concordian shared a friendly conversation with McFerrin regarding his experience organizing the show, the works on display, the team’s curatorial choices and the idea behind the exhibition.
McFerrin’s parents are both avid cyclists, therefore he and his brothers grew up cycling and exploring the world on their bikes. He spoke of the inherently healthy and unique lifestyle that comes with regular cycling. The activity became an inseparable part of his identity—as an adult he began to seek out opportunities to explore different parts of the world through cycling and build a community to share his passion with.
McFerrin is a Print Media major at Concordia University with a minor in Business—a combination that gave him the tools to successfully organize ViaVélo. The exhibition presented a collection of memories from his coast-to-coast journey across Canada. Photography and documentation captivated him during his earlier travels and these creative tools served as inspiration for the trip and offered him means to capture it.
The gallery consisted of two rooms that displayed a collection of photographs and paintings by McFerrin and Welton. The photos encapsulate the experience of the two artists and a few others, who cycled from Victoria, British Columbia, all the way to St. John’s, Newfoundland, spanning 10 provinces and over 11,000 km. They started their journey during the summer of 2020 before they were interrupted by the pandemic’s restrictions and finished their adventure in 2023.
Photograph from the ViaVélo collection. Courtesy of Sampson McFerrin.
By displaying the photos of their trip, the artists aimed to represent their journey and introduce different ways of seeing Canada. Through storytelling and captured memories of friendships, community and their lifestyle on the road, the exhibition proposes a new perception of the Canadian experience.
Viewers were met with photos of all 10 Canadian provinces, which McFerrin noted really capture the essence of the specific place and time it was taken. The presence of McFerrin’s bike in the gallery space, loaded with all the necessities for the trip, adds to the vivid memory of their life on the road. “The bike became the home that you take care of, and it takes care of you,” McFerrin said.
Three entrepreneurs use their knowledge and experience to produce handmade high-quality bicycles.
Ronny Perez Jaramillo, Mathieu P. Hamel and Étienne Trudeau are the three proud owners of Memento Cycles. They design and manufacture high-quality bicycles in their workshop located in Rosemont, Montreal.
For many years, the three of them worked together as bike couriers and messengers. Their experience in the field, and the knowledge that comes with it, have given them a better understanding of the cycling industry and its needs.
The cycling industry, like most industries, is dominated by mass production in low-income countries. It focuses on low-cost and low-time production bicycles. Memento Cycles differentiates itself from the bunch by choosing quality over quantity.
The Rosemont-based artisans weld and assemble the bikes themselves. Every bicycle frame they make is customized for every client so that the bike perfectly fits the person’s body. They design and make their products for cyclists who want to ride a bicycle that feels like an extension of their own body, and offer a solution to those who want to ask for more from their bike.
Kaitlynn Rodney/ The Concordian
Both Trudeau and Perez Jaramillo are engineering graduates. They took to the field so that they could earn high salaries and work in very safe, stable jobs like they thought they were supposed to. Instead, they decided to make the daring decision to choose passion over money and boldness over safety.
Perez Jaramillo believes that Memento Cycles is about more than making a living by selling bicycles.
“It’s about learning and growing,” he explained, referring to both being an entrepreneur and a human being.
Kaitlynn Rodney/ The Concordian
The Work Market is Changing
The pandemic has redefined the way Canadians think about their work. For many, it’s opened up options beyond working for someone else. Employees and employers now have to deal with the new rules of the labour market.
The human resources firm LifeWorks uses the Mental Health Index (MHI) to measure Canadians’ level of happiness and satisfaction at the workplace. The firm has conducted surveys every month since 2017, and their data can be used to understand the evolution of Canadian workers’ views and feelings about their job.
Their study on the MHI found that the Canadian workers who feel a sense of belonging and acceptance at work have among the highest mental health scores. Lower mental health scores can cause lower productivity while higher mental health scores result in higher productivity. They also found that more than one-third of employed Canadians are either thinking about leaving their job, or are unsure because their current job does not satisfy them.
Additionally, Statistics Canada publishes estimates of business openings and closures every month. Their latest comprehensive report released in July 2020 compares the first few months of the pandemic to the same months during the preceding year. It states that the number of new businesses has risen by eight per cent from March to July 2019.
We will have to wait for more recent data to make conclusions about the long-term effects of the pandemic, but the first five months’ statistics suggest that the pandemic has encouraged Canadians to start their own businesses.
Memento’s history
Perez Jaramillo and Trudeau graduated in 2020 and 2019 respectively. Fresh out of completing their degrees in engineering, both believed that an office job would not satisfy them. They felt the need to work on their own terms toward an objective of their own. They both appreciate the ability to work when they choose, and to take a day off when they feel like it.
“It all started when I was taking entrepreneurship classes during my last semester at university,” said Perez Jaramillo with a smile.
“I was really looking for a project to start my business. At first, it was not about the bikes; it was more about being an entrepreneur.”
“At first, it was Étienne and me,” Perez Jaramillo remembered. They asked Hamel to join because they thought that his experience in the cycling industry and his knowledge of bike mechanics would be beneficial.
“I think that three is the perfect number for our business. Everyone brings something different to the table. We had to buy a lot of tools and machines to produce bike frames. It was good that we could split the expenses in three.”
Trudeau is the one who had the idea of producing cargo bikes. “All the cargo bikes we have here are imported from the Netherlands and are very hard to get. It costs about $10,000 to buy and ship the bike to Montreal. It should actually only cost you $5,000. Étienne thought there was a market there. This was all we needed.”
Trudeau explained that cargo bikes are the fastest way to deliver goods in the city. They have a very small front wheel with a wide platform attached to the fork which makes it easy to carry great loads. There already are a few companies in Montreal that use those bikes to make deliveries. The three entrepreneurs hope to convince those companies to stop importing expensive bikes from Europe, and instead, use their locally made bicycles.
“At first we only wanted to make cargo-type bikes,” Trudeau remembered. But they quickly realized that it was quite complicated to start with such a complex product. They decided to start making regular bicycle frames. The trio quickly found out that this was still hard. This is why they decided to start by making bike racks and small accessories.
Étienne attaches a bike rack to the front of a bike. They shared that the fitting is one of the most important part of the process. Kaitlynn Rodney/ The Concordian
Similar to the two other partners, Trudeau still works a part-time job. He is a bicycle messenger for a company that uses cargo bikes to deliver goods on the Island of Montreal. He is very used to riding those unique bikes, and hopes to be able to produce and sell the first cargo bikes made in Montreal.
Why are Memento’s bikes unique?
The three Memento owners were cyclists years before starting their company. Their background and experience allow them to better understand the demands of bicycle lovers. Perez Jaramillo believes that “cyclists are the best persons to create cycling products.”
“People do not want to buy something they could have done themselves,” he said. “They want to buy something special, clean, and unique.”
Manufacturing bikes on a smaller scale than most bike brands allows memento Cycles to create a relationship with the customers. Perez Jaramillo thinks this is central to their work.
“I loved the idea of working with my hands,” Perez Jaramillo explained. He always was more cerebral than manual but he “was very attracted by the idea of learning to weld and work the metal.”
Kaitlynn Rodney/ The Concordian
The road to success was a bumpy one, but Perez Jaramillo tries to find something positive in everything.
“We made a few mistakes,” he said, “but I think that we learned from every one of them. As long as your mistake does not destroy your company or kill anyone, I am sure you can draw something positive from it.”
Trudeau believes that one of the biggest challenges is to manage to reach out to as many people as possible. “In order to do that,” he said, “we need to have a diversified range of products.”
There are 600,000 bikes sold a year in Quebec. The three Memento members hope that they will be able to sell at least 20 bikes a month. That would allow them to leave their respective part-time jobs and focus on the company.
Looking Ahead
“When I come here, I don’t have the feeling that I am working,” Trudeau shared happily. “If I was not in a love relationship, I would spend all my time here without feeling like I am spending all my time at work.”
Being an entrepreneur can be very challenging at times, requiring a great amount of motivation to keep going even when the pay is not as good as one would hope or everything seems to want to fall apart.
Perez Jaramillo finds his motivation by comparing his life to those of his fellow classmates. “I have friends who graduated from the same program I graduated from who have a nine-to-five type of job, a good salary, and a nice office to work in. But they all tell me the same thing: this is not enough. They feel like they are missing something. This is why I tell myself that even if I had a full wallet, I would not necessarily be happier.”
Trudeau explained that his bachelor’s in civil engineering and Perez Jaramillo’s bachelor’s in mechanical engineering are relevant to their work. They use a lot of the knowledge learned in their studies, especially when it comes to materials and their particularities. Harmel completes the trio well with his knowledge and experience in bike mechanics.
“There are too many generations who convinced us to study a lot, find a decent job, and get settled,” Trudeau said. “I see too many people who are unhappy with that type of life.”
Perez Jaramillo believes that “entrepreneurs are people willing to dedicate their heart and their soul to their projects. I don’t mean to become crazy — but it’s almost that.”
I aimed at cycling past my limits at the 100 tours par amour cycling fundraiser held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
The longer I spend sitting on my sofa writing this article, the less I feel like getting up. I feel intertwined with the fabric, slowly melting into it. With no energy left to spare, I look back on the events that happened on Saturday, Sept. 18. The opportunity to be a part of the fundraiser and the importance of raising awareness for food insecurity ultimately made strangers come together.
For Étienne Laprise and Gaspard Vié, organizers of the fundraiser 100 tours par amour, the day started at 5 a.m. at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The event did not have an official starting time for everyone else, so people were invited to come at their own convenience to show support or even participate in accomplishing their own personal milestone.
I only got into biking around two years ago, however I began to take it more seriously this summer. Usually, I would only do 30 to 40-kilometre days, but my goal was to test how far I could push myself.
My original objective was to accomplish 200 kilometres in a day. I figured that comparing my goal to both Laprise and Vié’s 436 kilometres was modest, especially for someone who just got into the sport. At 7:15 a.m., I arrived at the circuit and was ready for the challenge — or so I thought.
Upon arrival, the pure rush of adrenaline to begin the day was amazing. In unison, two lines of 20-plus bikers filled the lanes. I felt great throughout the first leg of my challenge, catching up with people I haven’t seen or spoken to since the pandemic. At the peak of the fundraiser, many people joined our convoy while others came in support for the cause. At one point there were well over 40 to 50 people biking all at once. With all the energy bouncing off of us, it felt exhilarating to participate in.
As each lap passed by, the encouragement from onlookers seeing what we were all accomplishing felt reassuring, especially when your thighs feel like they’ve been in a furnace for three hours. Zooming at speeds upwards of 43 kilometres per hour, the draft we created really helped, especially when facing the heavy wind or going uphill. The whole three-hour segment in the morning felt good. I had at that point completed 120 kilometres, and I felt that I could easily carry on to 200.
After our second break, I started to feel my legs get under me. I still felt that I could keep up, but I could tell I was losing strength at a slow pace. It was only 20 kilometres into our second leg when I felt something that I had never felt before. At the 140 mark my body crudely told me that I was out of energy.
With every hard push of my pedals attempting to stay with the convoy of bikes, the further I got. I officially couldn’t keep up with the rest of the group. I tried on a few occasions to latch onto the back of the convoy but to no avail. My legs had no more to give and I was exhausted beyond belief. I had 60 kilometres to complete to get to 200 and I was so dead-set on that number, if I had just left I would’ve kicked myself for not completing my goal.
Those last 60 kilometres were very tough, especially in a heavy caloric deficit, but I eventually got through to my goal at a slower pace. As for Laprise and Vié, they completed their 436 kilometres in under 13 hours, beating their time from last year.
My biggest regret is that I didn’t prepare properly, and I clearly underestimated the calories needed to complete bigger distances. This experience provided insight for how I should prepare for next year.
Two friends bike 100 laps around Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to relieve food insecurity in Quebec
It’s 5 a.m. at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, known as “The Circuit” for short, on Aug. 22 2020. While the sun has barely set and early morning dew is still floating on top of the grass, the sounds of spinning chains and gears shifting fill the air. Last year’s inaugural ride was not only a challenge, but also motivation to pursue it again.
While most are still asleep, university students Étienne Laprise and Gaspard Vié are about to accomplish what seems like the impossible: 100 laps around the circuit, totalling over 430 kilometres of biking in one day in a fundraiser they created called 100 tours par amour.
“I’m getting chills just talking about it,” said Laprise, one of the co-organizers of the fundraiser.
The fundraiser started by Vié is in support of people who have been affected by food insecurity from the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal is simple: the more money raised will mean more food on Quebecers’ tables this year.
Still in its infancy, the second annual fundraiser on Sept. 18 is hoping to not only surpass last year’s goal of supplying 21,000 meals to the less fortunate, but to also raise awareness regarding food security problems many people in the province have faced. According to Les Banques alimentaires du Québec more than 500,000 people suffer from hunger in Quebec each month. Each dollar raised from the fundraiser supplies three meals to people in need.
Last year, Vié stumbled on a fundraiser that partnered with Les Banques alimentaires du Québec to supply meals to Quebecers. After doing his own research, he realized that something had to be done to provide more food assistance to people in their time of need.
“I realized that there was a big demand from food banks,” Vié said. “Why not try and do something good for people who are struggling through the pandemic.”
Vié also saw this crisis as an opportunity to provide assistance to the food bank shortage.
“If people aren’t properly nourished, it’s easier for people to develop diseases and other illnesses. Without it you cannot properly succeed. You start off with the primary necessity for all people to succeed, and the primary necessity is to be able to get fed and to have water,” Vié said.
This isn’t the first serious physical challenge for the duo, considering they’ve competed in other physically demanding sports since high school. From skiing at tremendous speeds, to completing an Ironman at 18 years old, one thing was clear: for both Laprise and Vié, this endeavor differed from all others.
“We like to push ourselves together,” Laprise said. “The challenge is great, but with COVID going on it was a no-brainer to accomplish this for a good cause.”
Though the distance is quite a feat to cover in a single day, both Vié and Laprise have found that last year’s success was attributed to the support from people around them.
“It’s hard on the legs, I won’t deny that. But with people’s support it makes things easier,” Vié said.
From last year’s experience the beginning is exciting, however when fatigue sets in at the halfway mark it becomes a mental game, according to Laprise.
“At some point you lose count, your body gets tired and you’re just going to follow the kilometers on your speedometer,” Laprise said.
Though most would find biking for 13 hours daunting, Vié knew he couldn’t accomplish this alone. That’s when Vié called Laprise to invite him on this journey, and Laprise was on board from the beginning.
“He called me and asked if I wanted to get in. We love doing those challenges,” Laprise said.
With the workload of being full-time students and having jobs, things were a bit harder to manage. However, for Vié and Laprise not only staying organized is key, but their passion for the cause motivated them to pursue this fundraiser into their second year.
“At the beginning I had no idea what I was doing, I was diving into the unknown,” Vié said. “It’s hours I don’t count because I’m passionate about the project that I’m doing.”
In their second year, they have acquired more prominent sponsors who have donated money to the fundraiser and have upped last year’s goal of $3,000 to $10,000. If achieved, their goal would provide 30,000 meals to those most impacted from COVID-19.
“We doubled our goal last year and made a total of $7,000. I’m looking forward to seeing if we can get to this goal,” Vié said.
Les Banques alimentaire du Québec claims that 1.9 million food assistance requests are made monthly to their food banks as of 2019. Since the beginning of COVID-19, that number has increased by 30 per cent.
As for the future, Vié plans to have more people on board to further grow the fundraiser.
“I would love to get to a point where I can invite more people to come and bike for the cause,” Vié said. “We’re currently still at the regional level, but as for a long-term plan, I would love to grow les 100 tours par amours into a known provincial fundraiser to spread the message.”
Favourites and Canadians to watch at this year’s Tour de France
With the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) 2021 World Tour now underway, many are wondering who will have the chance of bringing the famous Tour de France yellow jersey home. Can the Ineos Grenadiers come back from the dead as they try to restore their name and reputation, and will there be any Canadian riders competing?
Race favourites
All eyes are on the single greatest race of the calendar, the Tour de France (TDF). Out of the three grand tours, the TDF is the oldest and most prestigious cycling competition in the world. Last year, the young Slovene Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) surprisingly won the French Grand Tour by beating Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) on the last time trial of the race.
This year, though, competition should shift up a few gears as many racers who were absent last year are expected to make a comeback. Among those competitors are Chris Froome (Israel Start-Up Nation), who won the TDF four times during his days with the former Team Sky, but missed last year’s edition due to a severe injury.
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), who has never competed on the biggest road cycling stage, is expected to make his TDF debut in 2021. Van der Poel is a four-time cyclocross world champion and started 2021 with an impressive first place at Strade Bianche. Time will tell if he will be able to apply the skills he has learned in the mud to road.
Roglič is one of the main candidates battling for the yellow jersey. Last year, he won the Vuelta a España and finished second in the TDF. He is expected to give absolutely everything to win the title, as this will be his fourth time at the event.
Geraint Thomas is expected to lead the Ineos Grenadiers. He already won the Tour in 2018 and finished second in 2019. He will hope to bring his team back on top after a very difficult tour in 2020.
The end of the Ineos Grenadiers’ outrageous domination
Ineos Grenadiers was founded in 2010 by British Cycling, first called Team Sky, then Team Ineos, before finally becoming Ineos Grenadiers. The team was founded to “produc[e] the first British winner of the Tour de France.” It took them only two years to do so, and they repeated the accomplishment seven times in 11 years.
In 2019, the English industrialist and billionaire Jim Ratcliffe bought Team Sky and renamed it after his chemical firm, Ineos. Ratcliffe bought the richest and the most prestigious team on the circuit, which, at the time, was led by Froome. At the time of the transaction, the team had won six of the last seven TDF. Those years were dominated by Froome, who seemed to fly up French mountains. According to The Hustle, Ratcliffe has invested approximately US $47 million every year in his victorious team. When you realize that World Tour teams have an average $20 million yearly budget, you understand why Ineos has dominated Grand Tours for the last few years. Those numbers bring not only huge possibilities but also huge pressure on cyclists and trainers to always win.
At the end of last year’s TDF, when Ineos’ race leader Richard Carapaz finished 13th, the team faced a lot of criticism. This year, there is a huge amount of pressure on the team’s riders to perform at the highest level and put a cross on last year’s failure. As competition from other teams increases, the British formation has to reinvent itself to go back to its glory days.
Canadian cyclists in the competition
Two of Canada’s greatest road cyclists, Hugo Houle (Astana-Premier Tech) and Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation), are expected to be on the starting line on June 26.
Last year, Houle, who was born and raised in a small village just outside Drummondville, Quebec, was the only Canadian on the tour. His team director has not yet confirmed his presence at the competition, but based on his excellent results last year, where he finished 47th, he is very likely to be on the starting line this summer.
Last year, Woods left his old teammates from the newly-named EF Education-Nippo and joined new, promising formation Israel Start-Up Nation. The 2021 TDF will be Woods’ second appearance at the race.
Montreal hosted the 10th edition of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec et Montréal on Sept. 15.
The event was part of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) World Tour featuring worldwide professional teams, such as Team Katusha Alpecin, Astana Pro Team, and Lotto Soudal.
Montrealers were lucky to have riders such as Julian Alaphilippe from team Deceuninck Quick-Step, Peter Sagan from team Bora-Hansgrohe, and Geraint Thomas from Team Ineos. The three have won multiple stages from many international events, such as Tour de Flanders and Giro d’Italia. Thomas was the winner of the Tour de France in 2018.
Among the cyclists were Team Canada’s riders. Two of the team’s cyclists managed to stay in the breakaway – a small group of riders that take up ground in front of the peloton for different strategic reasons. Some say it is just theatrical – more TV time for the team’s jersey.
Altogether, riders rode a total of 219.6 km on a hilly circuit. The course included three climbs up Camillien-Houde Way, Montée de la Polytechnique, and Claude-Champagne Street for a total of 4,734 metres of elevation.
All ascents are followed by descents. Different bike positioning and strategies helped riders reach top speeds exceeding 80 km/h in the many descents of the circuit.
After roughly six hours of pedalling, riders competed in the final sprint of the race up Du Parc Avenue. Greg van Avermaet from CCC Team took advantage of the early takeoff of some riders to claim the win, followed by Diego Ulissi from UAE (United Arab Emirates) Team Emirates and Ivan Garcia from Bahrain Merida.
Photos by Britanny Giuseppe-Clarke and Jad Abukasm
Cyclists prepare for a silent ride up Camillien-Houde Way on Oct. 4. Photo by Jad Abukasm.
Local riders honour young cyclist one year after his death
A year ago, Clément Ouimet tragically lost his life on Camillien-Houde Way in a collision. His bike is still hanging there, a white fixie strapped on the side of the road. The two hockey sticks in an X shape are no longer dangling under the bicycle, but the 18-year-old cyclist is far from forgotten.
On Oct. 4, more than 200 people attended the silent ascension up Camillien-Houde Way on Mount Royal to honour Ouimet’s memory. There were two words on everyone’s minds: “Salut Clément.”
Ouimet’s team, many rival cycling clubs, and his friends were present at the event. “We just didn’t understand,” said Antoine Ippersiel, a friend of Clément. “He was 18 and just like that, he wasn’t there anymore. It was hard to accept it.”
Bernard Fortin, Ouimet’s neighbour, still has vivid memories of him. He considered Clément his son: “I’ve know him since he’s a toddler. We’ve seen him ride his first bike, we’ve seen him skate, we’ve seen him do everything. We also lent him our tools to fix his bike,” Fortin said. “We almost felt responsible that he biked. But yeah, life was evil.”
Annie Lafontaine, who had only seen Ouimet at the Bromont velodrome a few years ago, said it is important to show Clément’s parents that they still remember him. “I met his parents when we strapped the bike,” said Lafontaine. She wanted to show them that people continue to support them by bringing flowers to Clément’s memorial. “I say to myself that, if they pass by, whether by bike or by car, they will know that there are other people in life that support them, and that are trying to send good thoughts,” she added.
The white bike and the hockey sticks mark the exact spot of the crash and hold a lot of meaning.
“Those, I see almost every day and they mean a lot to me,” said former professional cyclist James Piccoli. “I look at them every time I pass. It’s been a nice little reminder to give me perspective every time I’m training here.”
Maxime Martin, Ouimet’s girlfriend’s father, said not every driver is a maniac, and that sometimes cyclists take unnecessary risks too. He wants cyclists and drivers to properly share roads. “You hope that, when people pass by the white bike, they think: ‘OK. Am I really in such a hurry?’ and on bicycles: ‘Am I really being careful enough?’ That’s the presence we want to win with the message,” Martin said. He added that it makes him angry to think it took such a tragic event to send a message to make things safer for cyclists.
“I think we gave honour to Clément, but it’s really to send a message to Montreal and to provincial jurisdictions,” said the event’s organizer, Marc-Antoine Desjardins. “It’s important to have safety measures for the most vulnerable and that’s only possible from safe infrastructures accessible to cyclists, pedestrians, elderly people, students, children […] We’ve seen many nice things [regarding this issue] during the electoral campaign. I’m excited to see the results.”
However, Desjardins said, the memorial was for Clément Ouimet: “We won’t forget you Clément. We’re never going to forget you; count on us to perpetually remind everyone who you were and honour your memory. Salut Clément.”
Members of the Canadian National Team prepare for the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal on Sept. 10. Photo by Ayrton Wakfer.
World’s best bikers race around Parc Mont-Royal on Sunday afternoon
Italian Diego Ulissi, from Team UAE Emirates, took an unexpected win in the 8th edition of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal (GPCM) on Sept. 10. After 205.7 kilometres and almost 4,000 metres of elevation gain, Ulissi out-sprinted Jesus Herrada, from Team Movistar, and Tom-Jelte Slagter, from Team Cannondale-Drapac, at the finish for the victory.
Nearly 200 riders were greeted with a cloudy morning, but by the 11 a.m. start time the sun was out and temperatures were up. Boisterous crowds rotated around the circuit, which ran around the boundaries of Parc Mont-Royal. Crowds packed the finish area and fan village at the foot of the Georges-Étienne Cartier monument on Park Avenue, banging the barriers to create a deafening rumble each time the cyclists came through.
Right out of the gate, Canadian National Road champion Matteo Dal-Cin from the Canadian National Team attacked and split fron the pack of riders, known as the peloton, with fellow Canadian Benjamin Perry, from Team Israel Cycling Academy, to form the day’s first breakaway.
Albert Timmer of Team Sunweb races during the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal on Sept. 10. Photo by Ayrton Wakfer.
The pair worked well and had a three-minute gap at the end of the first of 17 laps of the 12.1-kilometre circuit. The main pack of riders let the gap run out to upwards of four minutes, with Team Cannondale-Drapac setting a comfortable pace at the front. The pace ramped up surprisingly early, with the main pack splitting on the fifth ascent of the daunting Côte Camillien-Houde. Reigning Road Cycling World Champion Peter Sagan, from Team Bora-Hansgrohe, missed the split.
Sagan’s strong Bora-Hansgrohe team went to work dragging back the front group, and by lap six the peloton was back together. The race remained quiet until the seventh lap, when Sagan moved to the front on the descent of the Côte Camillien-Houde. He used his impressive bike handling skills to briefly pull clear of the peloton on the tricky downhill, but was brought back quickly once on flat roads.
Four riders attacked after Sagan was brought back, and established a gap of one minute with 50 kilometres to go. However, the peloton was in full flight and caught the quartet with 40 kilometres left. The race-winning breakaway escaped the bunch next, halfway through the 15th lap.
France’s Tony Gallopin, from Team Lotto-Soudal, put in a huge effort in the final kilometre, and established a small gap. The Frenchman ran out of steam with 500 metres remaining, and was swept up the six riders sprinting for the finish. At the end of over five hours of racing, Ulissi took his first Worldtour victory of the year, surpassing the race favourites with his gutsy decision to follow a late attack.
Many of the riders in Sunday’s GPCM will now prepare for this year’s UCI Road World Championships in Bergen, Norway, to be held from Sept. 16 to 24.
A dark window into our roads, our police force, and even our society
On Sept. 4, a police cruiser in Quebec City killed a cyclist. The unfortunate biker was Guy Blouin, 48, of Quebec City, though he remained unidentified until the day after the incident. Blouin died in hospital.
Although the Service de Police de la Ville de Quebec have yet to announce their own version of events, at least one witness said the man was run over twice by the police cruiser. Local Alexandre Beaulieu told Radio-Canada that “They ran over the guy. The guy ended up under the car. For an entire 15 seconds, he was under the tire in a fetal position.”
A vigil was held in St. Roch on Friday, at which locals demanded answers and justice for the murder. Despite the peaceful protesters’ best attempts, however, Blouin will no doubt slip from national consciousness soon, as will his fellow cyclist and non-cyclist victims.
Why do police fail to protect cyclists so often? Cycling has never been safe in Montreal. Just in the last year two other Montreal bikers, not to mention pedestrians, have died in car accidents. And that’s not considering the children, pets and property harmed or destroyed by police officers each year.
Globally, the police are responsible for casual injustices every day, with the recent uprising in Ferguson, Missouri, and the incidents during the 2012 student protests in Montreal as two prominent examples. In March, Victor White III was shot to death while handcuffed in the backseat of a Louisiana police cruiser. This month, a Turkish cop took a selfie as a man committed suicide on a bridge behind him. The list goes on and on, an endless stream of people in uniforms harassing, abusing and neglecting to protect strangers for no logical reason.
Why do we have to be afraid of getting killed by the police? Why do we have to be afraid of getting killed by unsympathetic, reckless drivers? Why do we collectively forget the deaths of people like Blouin, White or Martin?
Maybe it’s our privilege. As a Western nation, and one of the most prosperous in the world, Canada has grown accustomed to its consumerist lifestyle. Our wants are satisfied quickly, giving many a false sense of importance. We dread the loss of this sense of importance, and are unhinged by the interruption of our comforting routines of consumption. Perhaps it is this false sense of rightfulness, and the underlying fear of being stripped of the things we value and allow to give us value, that makes drivers scream at cyclists and police officers act like hired thugs.
Or maybe it’s these dangerous times. With over 200 mass shootings in the United States this year, and an increasingly militarized police, it’s easier to be leery of strangers.
Or maybe we’re all just self-involved.
Or maybe cops tend to be the kind of people who are hungry for power, and we’re all so preoccupied we forget the outside world.
Whatever the answer may be, it’s clear that society is at fault. We don’t value community, and we’re not mindful of each other. We rush from place to place, without any concern for the present moment, and people suffer because of it.
It’s time something about the makeup of our culture changes, or we’ll keep trampling innocent people until the whole world is in ruins.
What do athletes Tiger Woods, Michael Vick and Mike Tyson have in common? Well, they were all the kings of their games; golf, football and boxing, respectively. Then, as is common when dubbed a ‘celebrity,’ a scandal erupts. Their once top-notch reputations have been broken to pieces.
Now, Lance Armstrong has joined this list.
It makes me sad to see such a pillar of the sports world brought down to his knees. He was once an inspiration to all cyclists and athletes alike. An inspiration to the millions suffering from cancer, watching him day after day recover from his sickness and creating the company Livestrong, that offers free services to help anyone suffering from cancer. After fighting cancer he went on to win one of the most prestigious cycling tournaments, the Tour De France, seven times.
The drama started months ago when he was first accused of using performance-enhancing drugs during his long career, something he was quick to deny. In the meantime, however, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency had accused Armstrong of leading “the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.” They had testimonies from his former teammates, accusing him of using steroids, the blood booster EPO and blood transfusions.
It was all downhill from there for Armstrong. He was stripped of his Tour de France titles between 1999 and 2005, stripped of his bronze medal in the Sydney Olympic games in 2000 and was banned from cycling competitively. He also stepped down as chairman of Livestrong. For the U.S. Anti-doping Agency, this closes “one of the most sordid chapters in sports history,” as they wrote in their 200-page report detailing Armstrong’s use of performance enhancing drugs.
Surprisingly, this isn’t what has most people utterly furious at Armstrong. Many were still ready to support him, arguing that he was still an exceptional human being, overcoming cancer and starting a foundation that helps cancer patients. Although this part of his reputation remains somewhat intact, he lost a large amount of credibility after finally admitting to using performance enhancing drugs in an exclusive interview with Oprah.
Come on, Lance. After denying it for so long, you finally come out and admit it, after we all knew it was true, on an interview with Oprah? Before this, most of us were mad at Armstrong. Now, we’re all extremely disappointed.
Livestrong issued this statement after that interview aired: “We at the Livestrong Foundation are disappointed by the news that Lance Armstrong misled people during and after his cycling career, including us.” This interview was nothing more than a plea, a last act to try and save his name and it completely backfired—most people saying that it was the worst acting they had ever seen.
“It kind of reminded me of Tiger Woods coming clean,” said Scott Allison to the Los Angeles Times, a psychology professor at the University of Richmond who has studied fallen heroes in American society. “For people like Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong, it’s so foreign to admit wrongdoing that they are out of their element … It can come across as robotic.”
Lance Armstrong had achieved a lot, there’s no doubt about it. He was one of the greatest athletes of all time, an inspiration to sports enthusiasts and a great human being. There’s no doubt in my mind that he could have achieved greatness without the use of performance enhancing drugs.
In the next few weeks, we hope to see some light shed on the cycling world to determine how deep this drug use goes in the sport and if the cycling system is as corrupt as some people have called it since Armstrong’s fall.
