Citing illness, Canadian rider Mike Woods pulls out of his swansong race in Montreal

By Canadian Press on September 10, 2025.

Citing illness, Canadian rider Mike Woods has pulled out of Sunday’s Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal.

Israel-Premier Tech said the 38-year-old from Ottawa has been “suffering from illness in the past week and will require surgery for a hernia, which has made racing impossible.”

Sunday’s 209.1-kilometre race in Montreal follows a 216-kilometre race Friday in Quebec City.

Woods was only scheduled to compete in Montreal, with the event slated to be his swansong.

Woods announced his retirement plans in an August blog.

“I am now 11 years deep into doing this sport as a profession, and another two as an amateur,” he wrote. “The toll it has taken on my health has been significant, and the time I have spent away from my family has been long.”

“As they say, though, all good things must come to an end. I still have big ambitions and plans for the coming years that will involve exploring new arenas in endurance sports (I’ve got some epic plans, so stay tuned for these),” he added.

Israel-Premier Tech has seven riders entered in the two races — Canadians Hugo Houle and Guillaume Boivin, plus New Zealand’s Corbin Strong, Latvia’s Krists Neilands, England’s Joe Blackmore, American Riley Sheehan, and Australian Simon Clarke.

The Quebec races have attracted a field of 23 teams, including all 18 UCI WorldTeams, four ProTeams, and the Canadian national team — for some 160 riders from more than 30 countries.

With the 2026 UCI Road World Championships taking place in Montreal, this year’s event serves as a dress rehearsal.

But there has been controversy in the buildup.

A Montreal-based human rights group has asked Mayor Valérie Plante to bar the Israel-Premier Tech cycling team from competing in Sunday’s race in Montréal amid the war in Gaza, where aid workers say a famine is unfolding.

Palestinian and Jewish Unity, or PAJU, urged the city on Monday to exclude the squad, which has substantial Canadian representation, including Canadian-Israeli co-owner Sylvan Adams.

In its letter to the city, PAJU’s lawyers said it would be “highly harmful and inexplicable” for Israel-Premier Tech to compete in the publicly funded event. The letter cites Israeli human rights groups that have described Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2025

The Canadian Press