Grands Prix Cyclistes events cancelled in Montreal and Quebec City due to COVID-19

The Grands Prix Cyclistes races scheduled for Montreal and Quebec City in September have been cancelled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The annual cycling events were scheduled to take place in September but the organization said in a statement Thursday that “it would be impossible to fulfill all of the health and operational requirements needed to guarantee a safe and secure environment for everyone.”

“To delay this decision any longer would have been neither responsible nor respectful of all the parties who have placed their trust in us since 2010 further,” said Serge Arsenault, president of Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec et de Montréal.

READ MORE: Montreal’s Just for Laughs festival moving online this fall due to COVID-19

The organization said “too many unresolved questions” remain — such as when borders will reopen and changing measures aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 — to go forward with the event.

“All the efforts made, to uphold our standards of quality as well as ensure everyone’s safety, have ultimately been in vain,” Arsenault said.

The races are the latest events to be cancelled or postponed in Quebec due to the ongoing health crisis. Most summer festivals in Montreal have also been put off.

Next year’s races in both cities are still set for September 2021.

2:14 Coronavirus: City of Montreal tries to tempt tourists to return

— With files from the Canadian Press