History

The ice racing concept has been developed over the last twelve years by the Toronto bike messenger community. The first few races took place on the natural ice on the island; however, the warm weather of the last few years forced the race into the city on a skating rink (Dufferin grove park).

The first ice race in Montreal was in 2003 as a part of Fete des Neiges winter festival on Sainte-Helene island. The event, appropriately named Course des Neiges went on for two days and included a variety of winter cycling challenges.

A year later, the ice race came to the Old Port of Montreal, making it easier for cyclists to get to the event. In the partnership with the Old Port of Montreal the concept matured over the last two years, and the name was changed to Coupe des Glaces.

Last year, Ice Cup 2006 was scheduled for Saturday, February 4th. However, it was warm and raining most of that week, with the exception of Wednesday, when we got about an inch of snow. Long story short, the snowplow tractor went through the ice; the temperatures, hovering around zero, were forecast to get even warmer, so we had to postpone the race by one week.

On February 11th, 2006 the Ice Cup competitions went on under the best possible weather conditions, with 54 registered racers (double the previous year's numbers), and plenty of media and public attention