Lotto Belisol will line up at the Grand Prix Quebec and Montreal with three captains that are well-suited to the hilly courses. Eneco Tour winner Tim Wellens will join forces with Ardennes specialist Jelle Vanendert and Tour de France stage winner Tony Gallopin to lead the Belgian team.

This week the WorldTour heads to Canada for two races. Friday there is the Grand Prix de Québec, on Sunday the Grand Prix de Montréal. It's going to be the fifth edition for both races.

Both in Québec and Montreal, the race consists of local laps. In Québec the riders will race eleven laps of 18.1 kilometers, which makes a total of 199.1 kilometers. The pith of matter is on the end of each lap. First the Côte de la Montagne and afterwards the Côte de la Potasse. After these two little climbs it goes slightly uphill towards the finish. The finish line is drawn at the Grande Allée, one kilometer with an average gradient of four percent.

The peloton travels to Montréal by train, where there are 205.7 race kilometers awaiting on Sunday, divided into 17 laps of 12.1 kilometers. This race contains a total of 3893 altitude meters. The GP of Québec has 2310 altitude meters. In Montréal each lap starts with the Côte de Camillien Houde. With its 1.8 kilometers at an average gradient of 8 percent, this is the biggest obstacle. After a half lap there is a second climb: the Côte de la Polytechnique (780 meters at an average gradient of 6%). The finish is at the Avenue du Parc, with an average gradient of 4%.

Lotto Belisol has selected among others Tony Gallopin, Jürgen Roelandts, Jelle Vanendert and Tim Wellens. In Canada, they will meet among others world champion Rui Costa, Simon Gerrans, Alexander Kristoff, Gianni Meersman, Bauke Mollema and Greg Van Avermaet.

Sports director Bart Leysen outlines his expectations

"There are some important WorldTour points to gather in Canada. Tony Gallopin, Jelle Vanendert and Tim Wellens are our main guys for both the races. In Québec, Jurgen Roelandts gets the chance to possibly strive for the victory in a select group. Montréal is the hardest of the two races, therefore we also have Louis Vervaeke in our selection. He made a strong impression in the Tour de l'Avenir. So his shape is good. But of course this race is new for him."

"The team is strong. We want to perform well and get some good results in both the races. The races in Canada are similar to the World Championships or the GP de Plouay, because of the local laps. We will try to continue our good performances in Canada."

Lotto Belisol selection: 

Stig Broeckx, Gert Dockx, Tony Gallopin, Jürgen Roelandts, Dennis Vanendert, Jelle Vanendert, Louis Vervaeke and Tim Wellens.