Thousands of cyclists on Montreal's streets for Tour de l'Ile

Thousands of cyclists ride in MTL Tour de l'Ile Thousands of cyclists took to the street for the annual Tour de l'Ile in Montreal.

Thousands of cyclists began pedalling through the streets of Montreal for the 2024 Tour de l'Ile on Sunday morning.

Course lengths ranged from 28 to 96 kilometres for the 39th edition of the ride, starting and ending at Jeanne-Mance Park in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough.

Organizers said around 18,000 riders took part in the event this year.

"It's really important as a tool to celebrate cycling culture," said Velo-Quebec CEO Jean-Francois Rheault.

The ride went through Outremont, Cote-des-Neiges, Westmount, Lasalle, Verdun and other Montreal neighbourhoods. Rheault said cycling gives a different perspective of the city.

"By cycling through the different neighbourhoods, we can connect them in our head and then we can really experience the city in a different way," he said.

Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault took part in the ride on Sunday.

"Now we have the first-ever active transportation fund of $400 million where we're working with communities, provinces, territories, [and] municipalities to help them deploy [and] invest in more infrastructure," he said. "So it's safer and nicer for people to be able to bike around, to go to work."

-- with files from CTV News journalist Christine Long.