Bruno Langlois returns to the pro peloton

To say Bruno Langlois received a professional contract in a laundromat during the Tour of Alberta would not be a 100 per cent accurate. But it is not far from the truth either.

How it all happened

In 2013, Langlois had moved on from his dream of returning to the pro peloton. Although he was still racing, he was mostly focused on helping his younger teammates achieve their goals. He also took on a role as manager at the Garneau-Quebecor professional cycling team. This job kept him up late between races to organize logistics, got him up early to ready water bottles ready the starts and had him doing laundry for his teammates between stages. The catch was that he was still competing at a high level. In fact, it was during the Tour of Alberta, in which he’d ride in breakaways during the day and see other team staff at the laundromat in the evening, he connected with with Frankie Andreu, directeur sportif of the continental  team 5-Hour Energy presented by Kenda. When the off-season started, Langlois started calling around to professional teams trying to find spots for his teammates, but managers wanted to know what he was up to. When the offer officially came in from Andreu’s team, Langlois discussed his options with Louis Garneau before jumping at the chance to return to the pro peloton.

Reflecting

On paper, if you don’t know the back story, Langlois under performed last year. For any competitor, that is tough to swallow. “I didn’t have any stand-out performances,” Langlois says. “I had some good feelings here and there. Philly [the Parx Casino Philly Cycling Classic] is one race where I had super legs.” Langlois was in the breakaway all day and then attacked solo only to be caught 1.5 km from the finish line. In contrast, the Canadian national championships was a major disappointment. The Garneau-Quebecor team did not execute their plan well for the nationals.  Langlois admits to slipping up at the start of the race and missing the first splits. However, he had two teammates in the front who should have been sitting on, which may have given an opportunity for both him and his stand-out teammate, Michael Woods to get back to the front end of the race. It is this day that he wants to make amends for more than any other. “I have been second and third at the national championships and just once I want to put on that jersey,” Langlois says.

A new year

As for New Year’s resolutions, Langlois is committed to doing all of the little things right this year. To go out and ride four and five hours is easy, Langlois says. “I have been doing that all of my life. But if you look at the big teams, like Sky, they are doing all of the other things so well: stretching, core work, diet: all of that. I know I need a balance in my life, but taking care of these little things is my New Year’s goal.” With a new contract in hand, Langlois is off to the warmer climate and altitude of Costa Rica to prepare thoroughly for the upcoming season.