ST JOHN'S - The 2025 Canada Games got a small taste of the Tour de France on Saturday running the men's and women's cycling criterium races along one of the country's most famous party streets attracting a large curious crowd to the downtown core.

The criterium is a race tailor made for spectators usually run on a closed circuit, typically within a city, and known for a high pace and tight, intense racing and downtown St. John's proved to be the ideal venue.

Making the race was even more spectator friendly with almost half the course running along Water Street lined with pubs and patios that were packed with excited fans despite overcast cool weather.

While no attendance figures are available the race, which also ran along Harbour Dr. under the shadow of historic Signal Hill, could claim to be the best attended event so far as the Canada Games reach the midway point.   

"Having the race downtown was super cool, the crowd was awesome," gushed Team British Columbia's Kimberly Chen, winner of the women's gold. "They were super loud; I was really surprised actually I wasn't expecting this many people to come out.

"Often we just race in a park or even a parking lot so it was super cool to race within the city."

Spectators echoed the same sentiment, applauding the decision to bring the Canada Games into the heart of the city.

Chelsea King, who was watching the races with friends from the roadside patio of the Grotto Pub almost directly across from the start-finish line, was asked if she was a cycling fan.

"I am today," smiled King, who along with her sister Courtney and friend Jess Puddister all competed for Newfoundland and Labrador at the 2009 Canada Games hosted by Prince Edward Island. "I've never seen anything like this here."

The men's criterium ended the afternoon of elite racing with Quebec's Maxime Bourassa putting on a masterclass of tactics and bravery going on an early attack leaving the rest of the pack scrapping for silver and bronze.

"Our strategy in the race was just to attack, so I tried an attack and nobody followed and it ended up working," explained Bourassa, who is currently training with a club in the South of France. "Some people made a lot of effort in the sprints in the first laps so they were fatigued and hesitated and a gap was created and when I had a gap it was easier to maintain it."

If people aren't going to the Games, bring the Games to the people urged Puddister, who would like to see more events like the criterium held in accessible, spectator friendly places.

"It took them a decade to make it a pedestrian mall so it's a pretty big deal for them to shut it down for this but we're all really happy about it though," Puddister, who competed in the heptathlon in 2009. "This is incredible, they are phenomenal athletes."