Saint-Georges

[crowd chatter] Start of the race in about 15 minutes.

I'm standing in an industrial park on the outskirts of St. Georges, a city of 33,000 people, about 100 kilometers south of Quebec City, in the rolling foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.

[bikes riding] It's a chaotic hive of activity, as cyclists zip in and out of the parking lot, weaving around team support staff and well-wishers as they warm up for the day's races.

[bikes riding] This is the heartland of competitive cycling in Canada.