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Ag2r-La Mondiale relying on Hugo Houle’s experience at Omloop and KBK

Hugo Houle has ridden Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne the past five years. His team will be looking to him to help its leaders.

Hugo Houle
Hugo Houle
Hugo Houle. Photo: Ag2r-La Mondiale

Hugo Houle, the lone Canadian on the WorldTour team Ag2r-La Mondiale, will be returning to Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne, which for some kicks off the real cycling season. Houle first rode these two races in Belgian Flanders as a member of Spidertech in 2012. He returned to Omloop in his first year on the French team Ag2r-La Mondiale in 2013. (KBK was cancelled in 2013 because of snow.) He rode both races again in 2014 and 2015. This year, the team will be relying on his experience for the later stages of the races in support of squad leaders.

What do you like about Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne?

I like those races because they are really technical. You need to be well-placed at the right moment to make sure you will enter the cobblestone sector in the front. If not, the racing because two or two times harder. Everybody knows when the sectors are coming, so it becomes a crazy fight to be in the front. Trust me on that. This is the best way to learn how to ride a bike. Belgian races are unique with the combination of narrow roads and cobblestone sectors. That’s why it is important to know the parcours. The first year your ride them, you don’t understand what is going on. Now I know where I’m going so that’s make my life a lot easier.

What do you find challenging in these races?

This is my challenge: Being at the front at the right moment with my teammate. Before every race, I target the places I really need to be in the front. But everybody knows them, so it’s important to have good timing when you move up to the front. These are the moments that are the most stressful. If you make one mistake, it’s a waste of energy for the next sector. At the end, you get dropped off the front group.

What will your role be this year?

My role in the team is to support ours leaders: Sebastien Turgot and Damien Gaudin. Now that I have more experience, I have to protect them closer to the end of the races. I need to take care of them in the second part of the race. Because I’ve done those races for the past five years, I have advice I can give them. If I see a opportunity for myself, I will take it. We will see more this weekend.

You’ll be racing “against” your training partner Antoine Duchesne? What’s it like seeing him in competition?

That’s great to race with friend. We can speak some Québecois in the field! Seriously, we are living together in France so we try to help each other and motivate one another to push our limits in training. We have the same coach, Pierre Hutsebaut from Peak Centre Montreal, so we are able to match our training to be ready for races.

Have you been training or riding with Duchesne’s new teammate, Ryan Anderson of Spruce Grove, Alta., too?

Not yet. I hope he will come to spend some time at our house in the south of France. I know Ryan from our time at  Spidetech. He’s a really fun guy to train with.