Tom Duca recently returned from the 2014 Tour de l’Ile in Montreal where he bicycled with Essex residents and more than 25,000 other two-wheeled adventurers.
“The Tour is always the first Sunday in June. Montreal closes the streets to cars and it’s so much fun to ride through the varied neighborhoods with tens of thousands of other bicyclists and not feel crowded. The Tour de l’Ile is a very family oriented event with kids 14 and under for free and a nice park every 7 or 8 miles to stop and rest, eat and watch performers and listen to music. At the end of the day you hardly feel as if you even ridden very far at all!” (Tom Duca)
Tom went on to explain that there is also a “Saturday night ride, plus more competitive rides of 100 and 150 K complete with police escort.” He sent us that dashing photograph above as well as a few from previous years. Click on the photos below to zoom in and read captions.
Tour de l’Ile Details
If you missed the 2014 Tour de l’Ile, don’t fret. There’s always next year. This longstanding tradition just gets better and better, and a year of training will make it that much more enjoyable. To help you plan, we’ve gathered the most important information from the official event website, Vélo Québec:
50 or 25 km Classic version: 50 km of car-free streets, ideal opportunity to see and experience Montréal in a different way. The same pleasure is possible over a shorter distance, via the 25 km route.
- Start: Parc-La Fontaine Avenue, from 9:15 a.m.
- Rest areas: kms 14, 26 and 38 (km 11 on the 25 km route)
- Finish: Jeanne-Mance Park
50 km Express Accelerated version where, first to leave, cyclists travel at 30 km/h for 1½ hours on closed-off downtown streets route of the Tour de l’Île de Montréal.
- Start: Parc-La Fontaine Avenue, 9:15 a.m.
- Finish: Jeanne-Mance Park
100-130 km Découverte NEW Original version, to underline the 30th edition, where cyclists literally bike around Montréal Island, or 130 km, with the possibility of shortening the route to 100 km. Morning departure on marked-off route open to motorists. Capacity doubled in 2014, or 3,000 places.
- Start: Parc-La Fontaine Avenue, between 7 and 10 a.m.
- Rest stops: access to rest area 2 and at 64-km mark
- Finish: Jeanne-Mance Park
100 km Express Vélo Mag Experience unique to Montréal for seasoned touring cyclists, who ride under police escort in a peloton, at an average speed of 30 km/hour. Places limited to 200.
- Start: Parc-La Fontaine Avenue, 6:45 a.m.
- Rest stop: at 64-km mark
- Finish: Jeanne-Mance Park
Media Coverage of Montreal’s 30th Tour de l’Ile
Everything I’ve heard and read about the June 1, 2014 Tour de l’Ile suggests that this was an epic event to be remembered, celebrated and duplicated next year. The following are a few insightful clips.
Thousands of cyclists wait to participate in the annual Tour de l’Ile at Parc La Fontaine in Montreal , Sunday, June 1, 2014. (Graham Hughes, Montreal Gazette)
The event was the usual astonishingly normal parade of 25,000 cyclists taking over our city streets. They were cheered by crowds blowing bugles, screaming “Lâchez-pas — don’t give up!” and enjoying the sight of cyclists seizing the streets in ways few cities permit… Montreal has become “Bikelandia” — a city of cyclomaniacs that’s been named No. 1 in North America and No. 10 in the world by two prestigious world cycling groups. (Montreal Gazette)
More than 2,600 volunteers put in their time to help ensure the event runs smoothly. (CTV Montreal News)
Tour de l’Île organizers… brilliantly created an annual festival of biking instead of your usual bike race — allowing ordinary Montreal families to take over the streets. (Montreal Gazette)
“Tour de l’Ile is now in the DNA of Montreal. So now it’s like the Boston Marathon or New York Marathon,” said Vélo Québec CEO Joëlle Sevigny. (CTV Montreal News)
“We want to get people to rediscover cycling. It’s a great sport and it’s great to get the kids off the couch,” said actress and spokesperson for Vélo Québec, Catherine-Anne Toupin. (CTV Montreal News)
Related articles
- Tour de l’Île brings thousands of cyclists to Montreal streets (cbc.ca)
- Tour de l’Île takes Montrealers on a bike tour across the island (globalnews.ca)
- Summer has arrived in Parc Lafontaine (montrealinpictures.com)
- 30,000 cyclists take over Montreal for 30th Tour de l’Ile (montreal.ctvnews.ca)
- Cyclists taking over island for Tour de l’Île (sykose.com)
- Bicycle riders take over Montreal streets for Tour de l’Ile (montreal.ctvnews.ca)
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