A NEW CANADIAN CLASSIC: REFLECTIONS ON THE GATINEAU GRAND PRIX
By Chris Reid, Executive Director at the National Cycling Institute Milton and OCA Board of Directors Chair
This year would have marked the 11th edition of the Grand Prix Gatineau Road race and its sister time trial, the Chrono Gatineau.
It’s a race that holds a special place in my heart for a multitude of reasons – not the least of which is I lived right off of the course for nearly a decade. I’ve driven it as a director for two different teams, watched it as a fan and even rode the men’s UCI time trial there the first year it was held. The course laces through the Gatineau Park, a gem of Canadian road cycling and reflects some of the best things in the National Capital Region.
The efforts made by the local Ottawa cycling community to save the race this year speaks to the place it holds in the hearts of Canadian cyclists – the GP is an intersection between the world stage and the passion of the thriving cycling community in the National Capital Region.
The Gatineau events first came onto the National Calendar at the same time as a number of other amazing women’s races came to their conclusion – the Tour of PEI and the Tour of Montreal. These two stage races had provided a generation of developing Canadian racers a world-class stage to develop and shine on and the Gatineau weekend has helped to continue that legacy.
Over the years, many of the top women racers in the world have contested the GP and Chrono Gatineau, including several World Champions. Canadian women have thrived on this stage with four of the ten editions being won by Canadians including the 2019 edition won by the only two-time champion, Leah Kirchmann.
Only one Canadian has ever won the Chrono and it was Canadian sporting icon Clara Hughes who won the second and third editions. Hughes’ presence in those years brought main stream community attention to the event. As one of Canada’s most laurelled Olympians, she brought focus and attention to the events that transcended just bike racing.
In those early years the fans that lined the overpass on Lac-des-Fees gave an electric atmosphere to the event. While the average person watching might not have known much about international cycling or other participants, Hughes’s Olympic success helped leverage the event within the community.
If there’s a value to these events, then it lies somewhere in this; in knitting the world stage closer to a thriving cycling community, in having Olympians inspire sports fans to become cycling fans. From a development perspective the importance of domestic events is a simple calculus – the number of Canadian’s that have gained international experience at these events is far greater than can be had by having to travel abroad to gain the same experience. For many of the Canadians racing in Gatineau, it feels like a home court advantage – seeing their own friends and family out along the course as they race against the world’s best.
Saved away on my computer from one of the first years the race was held is a picture taken by my wife, who at the time was the Youth Coach for the Ottawa Bicycle Club. In it, another of Canadian cycling’s legendary greats, three-time World Champion and Olympic bronze medalist Tara Whitten, is standing with two kids from the Ottawa Bicycle Club who have come to watch, cheer and meet their idols.
Last year, one of the two youngsters in that photo, Ariane Bonhomme, now herself a member of Canada’s National Track Team, sprinted her way to 4th place in the GP. All along the course on that day were members of the Ottawa Bicycle Club’s large youth program.
There, in two images, a decade apart, is the power and beauty of having our own events. Events that are uniquely Canadian. They have the power to inspire and provide opportunities for those that have been inspired to shine. Young women can watch and idolize and go on to have success of their own, and in doing so inspire the next wave.
*The event, now returning as the Tour de Gatineau & Chrono Féminin de la Gatineau, has been postponed for the 2020 season. For the full list of cancelled and postponed events, please click here.