In the mid-1980s, with the aim of getting people cycling again and, at the same time, demonstrating to various government bodies the popularity of two-wheelers, Vélo Québec toyed with the idea of organizing a major cycling event for all, along the lines of New York's Five Boro Bike Tour, created in 1977.
At the end of August 1985, when Transport Minister Guy Tardif asked Vélo Québec to organize an event to inaugurate the new bike paths in Montreal's east end, the idea became a reality... but with summer drawing to a close and so much work to be done, time was running out.
The first edition of the Tour de l’Île de Montréal finally took place on October 13, 1985, in torrential rain and at only 8 degrees Celsius. Of the 7,000 registered, 3,500 set off - some brave souls with grocery bags as overshoes! - and finish their 60 km trek at the Olympic Park, welcomed by Normand Brathwaite and Johanne Blouin, performing at the velodrome. That morning, at 7:30 a.m., as all the organization's cell phones were already dead, the day went on without technical communication. Not an easy start, and... not an easy aftermath either.
On June 8, 1986, it was time for the second edition. Vélo Québec's motto was "it's hit or miss". Without financial support from the government and with few sponsors, the organization was technically bankrupt, and no one believed it could achieve its goal of attracting 15,000 participants. And on the morning of the Tour, in muddy Old Montreal, it's raining cats and dogs again! Fortunately, the weather was warm, the skies cleared around 11 a.m. and the expected number of participants turned up.
Starting with the 1987 edition - when it was finally sunny all day - the Tour de l'Île took off with 26,000 participants, gained in popularity and quickly became an early June classic, reaching the 45,000-participant mark six years in a row, from 1992 to 1997. Also in 1992 - on the occasion of Montreal's 350th anniversary - and continuing until 2004, Vélo Québec introduced the Tour des Enfants, a cycling experience for 6-12 year-olds, held a week before the Tour de l'Île. Today, kids and teens are an integral part of the TDÎ, with its shorter, more accessible distances, and its night-time counterpart, the colorful Tour la Nuit.
In 1999, the Tour de l'Île became the flagship event of the Féria du vélo de Montréal - a full week of cycling activities - which, in 2014, became the Festival Go vélo Montréal. The 2017 edition will take place from May 28 to June 4, another great opportunity to pedal together in a city without cars, which is pretty rare these days.
