Hugo Houle has finished in the top-47 in seven of his last eight stage races

Canada’s Hugo Houle is on a roll, having placed in the top-30 of his last two WorldTour stage races: 13th in Tirreno-Adriatico and 30th in the Tour de Suisse, which finished on Sunday. Thirteenth is his career-best WorldTour stage race GC result. Going back to his fifth spot in the 2019 Arctic Tour of Norway, Houle has finished in the top-47 of seven of his last eight stage races.

One of two Canadians who race for Astana-Premier Tech, Houle distinguished himself with sixth place on Stage 6 of the Tour de Suisse. He rose steadily in the GC from Stage 2, jumping from 35th to 30th on the last day. After podium man Jakob Fuglsang and 24th spot Stephen de Bod, Hugo was Astana-Premier’s third best on GC, his achievement helping to score his squad third place in the team competition.

? Podium time for @jakob_fuglsang. It’s the third time Jakob stands on the @tds podium in his career ??#TourdeSuisse pic.twitter.com/XSLrb2oRx7

— Astana – Premier Tech (@AstanaPremTech) June 13, 2021

Right now, Houle is penciled in to race the Tour de France. Last season, he was Canada’s lone representative in the unique late-summer edition despite having tested positive for COVID in mid-August. He came 47th overall, his best Grand Tour result, and seventh place on Stage 12 was also his personal best stage result in a Grand Tour. If Houle is finalized for his team’s lineup, it will be his third Tour de France and sixth Grand Tour. It will also mean he has started a Grand Tour every year since 2015, when he came 113th in the Giro d’Italia, except 2018.

After four seasons with AG2R-La Mondiale, Houle signed with Astana in 2018 and re-signed for three more years near the end of 2019. The man from Sainte-Perpétue–one of seven Canadians on WorldTour teams–will be with Astana-Premier Tech for at least another year.