No Canadians in the 104th Tour de France
Nine year streak ends with Antoine Duchesne last season
July 1 is not only the 150th anniversary of Canada but also the start of the 104th Tour de France in Dusseldorf, Germany. Alas, for the first time in ten years there will be no Canadians racing in the Tour de France. On Monday Direct Energie and AG2R added their start lists to those of Orica-Scott and 13 other teams and they held no Ryan Anderson, Antoine Duchesne, Svein Tuft or Hugo Houle. Michael Woods, recovering after his first Giro d’Italia followed by the Tour de Suisse, is definitely not in Cannondale-Drapac’s Tour picture.
#giro100 I will miss you #getlow #sessantenove #worldtourwoods @POCSports @Mavic pic.twitter.com/5rbT4YwpMj
— Michael Woods (@rusty_woods) May 29, 2017
Six different Canadian athletes raced during the nine-year streak, with Ryder Hesjedal the mainstay—he was in seven of the nine, with 5th place in 2010 his best result. Svein Tuft participated in three Tours in a row. Three Canadians were in the 2013 edition.
2008: Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Chipotle) 46th
2009: Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Slipstream) 47th
2010: Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) 5th
Michael Barry (Sky) 97th
2011: Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervelo) 17th
2012: Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) DNF
2013: Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) 70th
David Veilleux (Europcar) 123rd
Svein Tuft (Orica-GreenEdge) 169th – lantern rouge
2014: Christian Meier (Orica-GreenEdge) 121st
Svein Tuft (Orica-GreenEdge) 131st
2015: Ryder Hesjedal (Cannondale-Garmin) 40th
Svein Tuft (Orica-GreenEdge) 159th
2016: Antoine Duchesne (Direct Energie) 107th
Coup d’envoi @LeTour de France. Bonne chance à Antoine Duchesne (@tonythetiger_1) du Saguenay! Nous sommes derrière toi! #TDF2016
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) July 2, 2016
The Tour suffered a decade long gap without Canadians between Ryder Hesjedal in 2008 and Gord Fraser in 1997, when he raced for La Mutuelle de Seine et Marne.
