In 2022, the Swiss Racing Academy, the country’s UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) professional cycling team, became the Tudor Pro Cycling team thanks to its new owner, Fabian Cancellara, and a partnership with Swiss watch manufacture, Tudor. Competitive cycling is a tricky sport to follow (more on that later), as I learned firsthand while attending the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec in Québec City this past week, a one-day circuit style UCI WorldTour event featuring many of the sport’s biggest names. The Tudor Pro Cycling team would bring seven of its riders, from a roster of 30, and as luck would have it, they would claim their second UWT victory of the year with French cyclist Julian Alaphilippe taking the checkered flag after 18 laps around the 12 kilometer circuit.
The Grands Prix Cyclistes is a pair of races that take place in Quebec and in Montreal, just two days apart. They appear at the tail end of the UCI WorldTour season that consists of 36 racing events, some of which are held over the course of weeks, such as the Tour de France, and others which take place over a single day. The races on this calendar feature the UCI World Teams, though UCI Pro Teams, such as the Tudor Pro Cycling team, may receive invites to compete.
The highest level of competitive cycling isn’t quite as straight forward as other professional sports, which have a clear hierarchy structure that ends in a single top level, like the NFL, F1, or the Premier League. The UCI World Team is the top tier, consisting of 18 teams, with automatic entry into all UCI WorldTour races, while the UCI ProTeams (17 teams) are technically the second tier, however these teams can receive invites to compete in the World Tour races. Each team consists of anywhere between 20 and 33 cyclists, and not all of them compete in each event. As we saw in Quebec, riders from the Pro Teams are capable of wins, with three of the top 10 finishers coming from UCI Pro Teams.
Taking a step back, riders from both groups score points toward the same WorldTour ranking. Like F1, there is an individual ranking, and a team ranking, but that’s about where the similarities end. Different event classifications and types can favor very different riding styles and strengths, and not all riders are able to succeed in every World Tour event. All of this can make the sport as a whole a bit difficult to keep track of, given that any given team could be competing in multiple events over the same weekend. Oh, and if you’re in the US, this isn’t something you can find on ESPN. It requires some effort, but the payoff is worth it if you enjoy endurance racing of any kind.
The Quebec GP
Managing a group of riders over the course of a race like this is no small feat. It takes the cyclists over five hours to complete the 216 kilometer (~134 mile) race distance, complete with 2,610 meters of net elevation gain. In many of the Europe races, the teams will have the full suite of their mobile mechanic outfits ready to make repairs on the fly. With circuit style courses, it’s a bit different. There is a ‘pit stop’ style area where team members are able to provide the riders with sustenance throughout the race. There’s a certain art to the handoffs that have to be made to ensure speed is maintained throughout, and it’s a wild sight to see up close and personal.
All of the Tudor Pro Team members I encounter are rocking the Pelagos FXD Chrono ‘Cycling Edition, by the way. It’s exactly what you’d expect from the team sponsored by the brand, but it was notable to me because it’s not a watch that you see in the wild very often. You could call this scene the watch’s natural environment, and it was great to see it on such a wide range of wrists. No, the cyclists did not wear them during the race.
There’s a certain rhythm to these races that unfolds in a consistent manner. It involves a breakaway group, and a main group, which is called the pelaton. During this race, a group of young riders broke away to build a lead that stretched well over six minutes for much of the race. I was assured it wouldn’t last, and sure enough, with a few laps left in the race, the pace began to change. The riders that seemed (to me) to have a near insurmountable lead faded into the clutches of a now stretching peloton, and this is where the contenders began to show their hand.
The bulk of the peloton began to break up at this point, with new lead groups beginning to form and pull away. This group included, at its very tail end, Tudor Pro Team member Julian Alaphilippe, a man who the team told us had a chance to win the race in our interviews the day prior. Turns out, they were correct. The scene that played out over the final lap rivaled the excitement of any sport I’ve spent any time watching. There were ebbs and flows that saw the riders swapping positions through the hills and straights, and it wasn’t until the final few kilometers that Alaphilippe began to assert himself.
The final grueling climb takes place through the historic downtown section of Québec City, with a 600 meter section from Cote de la Montagne to Rue du Fort that averages a 9% grade, peaking at 13%. It was in these final twists that Alaphilippe separated himself from the other front runners and never looked back. In total, the victory was a team effort, with a concerted effort toward a strategy set by the team’s manager, Fabian Cancellara. I am in no way qualified to comment on that strategy or how it unfolded, but for that level of detail you can visit our friends at Canadian Cycling Magazine.
The winner of the race would receive a special engraved Pelagos FXD Chrono Cycling Edition, and as I found out over lunch the day before the race, the watch would join a growing collection of Tudor watches owned by Alaphilippe. The PR manager of the team was even a spare he brought with him. It’s a trend within the team, it would seem. Veteran newcomer to the team, American Larry Warbasse, revealed a special engraving on the back of his FXD Chrono Cycling Edition, providing a sentiment beyond a mere team sponsor. These things have a way of getting under the skin, as you, dear reader, will well know.
I came into the weekend in Québec City not quite sure what to expect, as pro cycling wasn’t really a sport on my radar. Getting a first hand look at how the team operates, as well as the opportunity to get to know the members of the Tudor Pro Cycling team instilled a new sense of appreciation, and witnessing the race itself provided a riveting hook. Turns out, this is an endurance sport, with plenty of strategy at play, and in that way, it may be closer to WEC than to F1, which is an important distinction to understand. Like WEC racing, it’s not an easy sport to follow in the US, but if you ask me, it’s well worth the effort.
(Thanks to Matthew Pioro of Canadian Cycling Magazine for providing valuable insights to the sport.)
