On Aug. 25, 1974, Eddy Merckx crossed the finish line at the foot of Mount Royal and won his third world road cycling title. Yet just weeks earlier, plans to hold part of the World Cycling Championships in Montreal had been in serious jeopardy.
The velodrome at Olympic Park, which was supposed to host the track events, would not be ready in time. A solution had to be found quickly.
It would come from Université de Montréal.
UdeM’s archives offer a behind-the-scenes account of an operation carried out with such urgency that university leaders first learned through the media that their campus had been chosen to host the competition.
A velodrome that would not be ready
Montreal was awarded the 1976 Olympic Games in May 1970. A year and a half later, the International Cycling Union chose the city to host the 1974 world track and road cycling championships.
The plan was to hold the world championships in the indoor velodrome being built in the new Olympic Park, which would be used again two years later for the Games.
Construction, however, did not go as planned. Technical problems and labor disputes roiling the construction industry delayed the work.
As late as February 1974, Raymond Lemay, president of the world championships’ organizing committee, said he was reassured. Mayor Jean Drapeau had given him written assurance that the velodrome would be completed by July 15.
But as summer approached, it became clear that the deadline could not be met.
The chancellor heard it on the radio
At UdeM, the news arrived in a rather unusual way.
On May 28, during a meeting of the University Council, Chancellor Marcel Piché asked whether the institution had been consulted: He had just heard on radio and television that the World Cycling Championships were to be held on UdeM’s football field.
Discussions with the city were indeed underway, he was told, but no agreement had yet been reached. University leaders also regretted that the city had made the project public before a joint announcement could be made.
A few days later, the matter was settled.
“A sense of civic duty”
On June 4, the university’s Executive Committee held a special meeting to approve the contract with the city of Montreal.
The document left little doubt about the urgency. It stated that, “for reasons of force majeure,” the original velodrome project had to be abandoned and an alternative had to be found quickly.
The university agreed to help, citing its educational mission and a “sense of civic duty.” It made a large part of its sports facilities available to the city, including the Stade d’hiver — now CEPSUM — the football field, outdoor spaces and some parking lots.
The contract was signed by Roger Larose, vice rector for administration, and Jacques Girard, the university’s secretary general. The city would pay 63,000 Canadian dollars to rent the facilities from June 3 to Sept. 14.
A wooden track at the foot of Mount Royal
In a matter of weeks, a temporary wooden track took shape behind the Stade d’hiver, at the base of Mount Royal’s escarpment.
Bleachers were also built to accommodate several thousand spectators. For a few days, the campus became a full-fledged world championship venue.
The arrival of the teams and the public posed a major logistical challenge for the university.
In a memo dated Aug. 12, Fernand J. Gouin, UdeM’s head of security, detailed the arrangements for the competitions. Plainclothes officers were assigned to the residences housing delegations, others patrolled the campus and up to 17 security staff members were to be deployed during the road racing weekend.
Their duties included monitoring traffic and crowd movements at various points on campus, from Camillien-Houde Way to Louis-Colin Avenue, in cooperation with Montreal Urban Community police.
The world’s best cyclists at UdeM
From Aug. 14 to 20, the world’s best track cyclists competed at the university’s temporary velodrome. Among the winners was Czechoslovakia’s Anton Tkáč, who claimed the amateur sprint title. Two years later, he would again become a champion in Montreal, this time at the Olympic Games.
Then came the road events.
On Aug. 24, France’s Geneviève Gambillon became world champion. The next day, it was Eddy Merckx’s turn.
At the end of a race around Mount Royal, the Belgian outsprinted France’s Raymond Poulidor and Mariano Martinez. He claimed his third rainbow jersey in road cycling, after those he had won in 1967 and 1971.
The finish line was on Édouard-Montpetit Boulevard, in front of UdeM’s sports facilities.
