Steve Bauer to carry the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games torch

It’s appropriate that Steve Bauer, one of Canada’s most celebrated cycling treasures, should be a torchbearer for the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games in Milton, Ont.

“It’s a wonderful honour to be nominated to participate in the 2015 Pan Am Games torch relay,” Bauer said, addressing the news. That news comes from the announcement of participants in the TO2015 Torch Relay: nine celebrity names that will herald the opening of the Pan Am Games. Among them are Bauer, Jim Cuddy, lead singer of Blue Rodeo, Olympic figure skater Patrick Chan, freestyle skier Alexandre Bilodeau, and others.

Bauer, of course, will carry the torch on his bike.

“In my competitive years as a cyclist,” Bauer said,  “I was so focused on the competition of my sport that I never engaged in the ceremonial events. This time I will join the celebration in Milton, where I have [been] developing programming at Canada’s new velodrome.” Though it will be known as the Cisco Milton Pan Am/Parapan Am Velodrome during the Toronto 2015 Games, it will re-open under a different name shortly thereafter.

While his days as a professional cyclist are behind him, Bauer’s contribution to Canadian cycling is a gilded one. Born in St. Catharines, Ont., Bauer earned silver at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, was a world professional road race bronze medallist in Barcelona the same year, and worn the Tour de France’s yellow jersey for a total of 14 days. In 2005, he was inducted to both the Canadian Olympic and Sports Halls of Fame.

“It is truly a pleasure to join the torch relay team and contribute in the buildup prior to the excitement of the Games,” Bauer said.