Which Canadian team came closest to racing the Tour?

There have been many notable Canadians who have ridden the men’s Tour de France over the years. Steve Bauer, arguably Canada’s finest, finished fourth and won a stage in 1988, and he held the yellow jersey for 10 days in 1990. Alex Stieda was the first Canadian—and North American—to do so, back in 1986 when he took the yellow with a clever ride involving time bonuses on a double day.

Michael Barry rode it in 2010, Ryder Hesjedal finished fifth overall in the same year, and Svein Tuft was part of the winning team time trial (TTT) team in 2014. Hugo Houle and Mike Woods have each taken magnificent stage wins in recent years, and Derek Gee finished an incredible ninth at the 2024 edition.

There are lots of other Canucks who have ridden the biggest race in the world: Christian Meier, Guillaume Boivin, Gord Fraser, David Veilleux, and Antoine Duchesne have also been to the Grand Départ. But every time, these riders have been riding for European teams. (And in the case of Hesjedal, Stieda and Bauer, American ones.)

The six Canadian riders who made history at the Tour de France Feminin

Now, it should be pointed out that Canadian national teams have raced the Tour—the women raced at the Tour de France Feminin, which has seen various iterations and is now called the Tour de France Femmes. And plenty of Canadian women have been in action at the TdfFF since its inception in 2022. Olivia Baril, Simone Boilard, Clara Emond, Magdeleine Vallières, Alison Jackson, Sara Poidevin, and Maggie Coles-Lyster have all raced in the Tour de France Femmes. There was also a pro team that raced the Tour, sponsored by the then-Canadian company Cervélo, which included a Canadian rider, Dominique Rollin. Although Rollin didn’t ride in the Tour, he did compete in the Giro and Vuelta.

And in 1937, the first Canadian—and North American—rode the Tour with an amalgamated Great Britain/Canada team. His name was Pierre Gachon. Although he did start the Tour, he didn’t manage to finish the first stage (263 km from Paris to Lille, with an average speed of 38 km/h!)

Over the years, a few notable teams have had the intention of becoming the first men’s pro team at the Tour de France. Three squads stand out: Evian, which ran from 1989-1992; Symmetrics, which ran from 2004-2008; and Spidertech—run by Bauer himself—which ran from 2008-2012. Let’s break down each team’s viability when it came to making that dream come true.

Evian

Evian was a Canadian team from 1989 to 1992. The team had lots of big hitters on the squad—including Stieda, who joined the team in 1991. In 1992, however, he would ride with the American powerhouse squad Coors Light, which was one of the dominant domestic teams of the time with riders like Davis Phinney. It had also briefly been the home for Greg LeMond in 1989—he raced for Coors when stateside and the small Belgian team ADR in Europe.

Other riders on the team included Yvan Waddell, Tim Lefebvre, Steve Rover, Todd McNutt, Colin Davidson, Czeslaw Lukaszewicz, and Gervais Rioux.

The concept of pro teams prior to 1998 was quite different than it is today. Before 1998, being a professional was based on an individual rider’s license designation rather than the “team.” The UCI had an affiliated global federation called the Fédération Internationale de Cyclisme Professionnel FICP that managed pro cycling events and riders. Teams, by virtue of having only pro-licensed riders, were “pro teams” and eligible to race in the FICP races. In North America, there were no FICP races, so teams actually had a mix of pro or amateur riders, and the best events were mixed. Teams like Gianni-Motta and 7-Eleven became the first North American teams with exclusively pro riders.
Riders could change their licence without restriction mid-season, and this was common. It was also possible to be an independent “pro” with personal sponsors. Canadian team Evian was the first Canadian team to have the majority of its riders take out a pro license and race exclusive FICP races. However, there were teams that had “pro-licensed” Canadians on the team prior to that. The UCI dissolved the FICP in 1992, and there were a few years of transition to the three-tier trade team system we have today, which started in 1998.

The evolution of WorldTour, ProTeam and Continental

In 1998, the UCI unveiled a three-tiered system to classify elite cyclists. Back then, it was simply called division 1, 2, or 3—similar to soccer, except, again, you would still see division 1 teams show up in races against division 2 or 3, especially more so in North America. A division 3 team would never, for example, race the Tour de France. Given the sport’s lesser prominence in Canada and the U.S., the bigger races would sometimes feature a mix of both professional and amateur riders.

The three-tiered divisional system would eventually morph into its current format: WorldTour, ProTeam, and Continental. The lowest rung in the ladder would be Continental. The Continental requirement in the late 90s was a hefty registration fee of $10,000, but with no minimum salary requirements, just as is the case now. Most teams could still pay their riders something, but it wasn’t mandatory. Then, just like now, the WorldTour teams had a minimum salary, as did ProTeam. The first UCI team—which would now be known as Continental—was a small team out of Toronto called JetFuel Coffee. Although its budget was small, with the novelty of being a UCI team from Canada, they were flown around the world for races. A  few riders from the team would go on to bigger things, including Andrew Randell, and Rollin.

Though Evian wasn’t technically a pro team, some of the riders would get a pro licence, which meant they could race the pro worlds. Although the riders who got the licence certainly were of good calibre, there was no technical requirement to be eligible for it. Meaning you could go and get a pro licence, but if you weren’t any good, or on a pro team, it would be useless anyway.

In 1992, many of the riders obtained pro licenses with the goal of racing in the pro road world championships in Benidorm, Spain. Before the race, they competed in Europe as part of their preparation. The team raced in the Tour du Poitou-Charentes and then in Benidorm as the national team, with the addition of Bauer and Brian Walton, who were racing for the American team–and future home of Lance Armstrong, Motorola.

“Two friends, Stéphane Lebeau and Ed Arzouian found sponsors and established the Evian team,” Pierre Hutsebaut said. “They hired me as the team manager for the European section. We raced in the Tour de Poitou-Charentes and then in the World Championships in Benidorm, Spain, with the support of Steve and Brian. Unfortunately, the team didn’t last long after such a great start. As for me, in December 1992, I returned to Cycling Canada as director.”

Arzouian remembers a Montreal Gazette article from around spring 1992. The article, written by Pat Hickey, the Sports Editor at the time, wrote about how “It’s a long way from Les Mardis Cyclistes de Lachine to Paris.” But that was exactly the goal Arzouian had planned for the Evian Cycling Team: The Tour de France.

“Before the UCI changed the rules, the Tour de France and other pro races could invite teams without the need for UCI points,” Arouzian said. “Since the team was from Quebec, the French organizers often liked to invite Quebec riders, which gave them a kind of backdoor entry into these prestigious races. Unfortunately, that option is no longer available.”

Multiple national champion Rover said that after 1992, “The plan was to go full pro for 1993, but then we lost Evian as a sponsor, so that plan went south.” In 1993, the team’s budget was much smaller and was known as the Reynolds-Volkswagen Team. They still had some impressive results, courtesy of an American who would later win the US Pro Championships and race in Europe. Marty Jemison won the Tour de Beauce with the team and would later race the Tour de France twice, as well as ride for teams like US Postal.

Rover would ultimately head to Europe, riding for the small French team Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne alongside Fraser in 1997. That same year, Fraser would ride his one and only Tour de France with the French outfit.

Alas, they lost the Evian sponsor by ’93, and all that was left was a smaller budget, and the team was known as Reynolds. Although Arzouian had hoped to be the first Canadian team to race the Tour, it didn’t happen. How far the team would have gone is hard to say–the dream of going to the Tour might have very well been that, a dream, according to Stieda, after Evian pulled out. But the team definitely created an incredible legacy for pro cycling, and its brief years were ground-breaking.

Symmetrics Cycling

Symmetrics Cycling began when Mark Cunningham, co-owner of the team, decided it was strange to wear jerseys with other companies’ logos while racing as a Cat 4 cyclist. Feeling frustrated, he thought, “Why not just create my own jersey?” This led to the creation of the team, which evolved into something much larger than Mark had initially expected. What began as a simple idea soon grew into a significant force in Canadian professional cycling.

In 2002, the late Kevin and his wife Kelly Cunningham moved to Langley, B.C. where Kevin began commuting to work from their home to his company’s office and mill, which was 15 km away.

Cycling was not entirely new to the brothers, as both had raced triathlons in their younger years. With Kevin commuting and Mark’s growing interest in cycling, along with frequent visits from local cyclist Tony Zarsadias, the sport quickly became a bigger part of their lives.

The Moneyball of Canadian Cycling

In 2004, Kevin Cunningham convinced Tuft to come out of retirement and join Symmetrics, despite Tuft’s disillusionment with cycling due to doping scandals. Cunningham reassured Tuft, saying, “I want you to win bike races,” and soon after, Tuft won his first of nine Canadian time trial championships. This victory became Cunningham’s “fondest memory” of the team and marked the beginning of a successful period for Symmetrics, which had only been formed a year earlier.

Collector’s item: The Symmetrics Pro Cycling Team comic book

The team would go on to accomplish amazing feats, including national titles, wins at races like the Tour de Beauce and the UCI America Tour, and launching—and revitalizing the careers of riders like multiple national champion and Olympian Eric Wohlberg.

Ultimately, in 2008, the team, which was being funded solely by the Cunninghams, with the riders taking a massive pay cut, folded. But the dream of riding the Tour de France as the first Canadian team had always been there.

A shining light, however, is that even though Symmetrics never rode the Tour, two of its riders did–Tuft and Meier. In fact, Tuft was part of the winning team of the Stage 4 TTT of the Tour de France in 2013.

Spidertech

After the end of Symmetrics, some of the riders needed a new home. Bauer, who also had the dream of having the first Canadian team to go to the Tour de France, transformed a local team—first GEARS, a bike shop—then Team R.A.C.E into Spidertech, which would ultimately go from being a Continental team to a ProTeam—the first and only Canadian team to do so.

After recruiting several ex-Symmetrics riders, including former national champion Randell and François Parisien, Team R.A.C.E became a strong Canadian continental team. It also hired some young riders who would go on to great things—including a certain Boivin.

2010 saw the team get an increased budget and rebrand as Spidertech presented by Planet Energy. A young Boivin would give a hint of the future, winning two stages of the Mi-août Bretonne in France and winning a stage of the Vuelta A Cuba.

He would also have a huge result at the under-23 road worlds, finishing third.

In 2011, they added Tuft—who was left scrambling after the Australian team Pegasus Cycling folded toward the end of the season. He gave the team some big wins, including one in Belgium at the GP Stad Zottegem, as well as winning both the road race and national championships.

By 2012, the team was ready to level up, although without Tuft, who would head back down under (this time successfully) with Orica GreenEdge.

But that also meant expanding the team as well as its budget. To graduate to a ProTeam—then known as ProContinental, the UCI lists several criteria. “The UCI ProTeam consists of riders registered with the UCI, along with the paying agent, sponsors, and all contracted staff involved in the team’s operation, including managers, sports directors, coaches, and other personnel like paramedics and mechanics. To be eligible for the full registration year, each ProTeam must employ at least 20 riders, three team managers, and five additional full-time staff members.”

It wasn’t easy, but they managed to make the upgrade.

“It’s just the challenging process of the way the UCI works and until you’ve done it once, you don’t really know,” Bauer said in 2011. At one point, he and his partner Josée Larocque had to fly to Switzerland to meet with the UCI. “We went to Geneva for a 15-minute meeting. They were concerned about the financial plausibility of the whole budget, so we rectified that and guaranteed we would have the money.”

The team also hired some more familiar names, including a 21-year-old Houle. They also added strongman Brian Bach Vandborg from Denmark—who had ridden with big teams, including CSC and Discovery. Another rider who came on as a stagiare was Duchesne. Duchesne would go on to have a long career in Europe, riding the Tour twice, the Giro d’Italia once, and the Vuelta a España once as well.

The power of Bauer

Having Bauer as part of the team was definitely a boon in more ways than one. “As a team we definitely have some sentimental attachments to the Belgian races,” the team’s directer sportif, Kevin Field said. “That was Steve Bauer’s home when he was racing and he really gets motivated for the racing there. It infects the whole team with great energy when we are there.”

The squad had a big year, including racing with a wild card invitation at the Tour de Suisse, a longtime Tour preparation race. Ryan Roth also took a huge victory in the Tro Bro Léon.

At the Tour de Suisse, Ryan Anderson, Will Routley, David Boily, and Boivin rode, along with Swiss rider Raymond Künzli, Dane Brian Vandborg, and American duo Lucas Euser and Caleb Fairly. The top finisher was Künzli in 76th.  Andersen had a good ride in the mountains competition, finishing sixth overall.

It was definitely a higher level than most of the team was used to, but the majority of the squad did finish the eight-day race.

After 2012, though, the team went on hiatus.

“We’re stepping away from continental competition in order to focus our efforts on gaining UCI WorldTour status,” Bauer said at the time. “We have made the decision to focus our efforts entirely on making the jump to the WorldTour in 2014 and have determined that we need to acquire additional financial partnerships to reach this goal.”

Unfortunately, by October 2013, the team’s management company announced that it would cancel the following season’s racing to “use the upcoming year to focus on acquiring additional corporate sponsorship.”

Despite the team not accomplishing its goal of doing the Tour, it still became the only Canadian team to ever ride the Tour de Suisse, a major WorldTour race, and be a ProTeam. And certainly, several of the riders—Houle, who would go on to win a stage of the Tour, Tuft—who would go on to wear the pink jersey, and Boivin—who took a brilliant 9th at Paris-Roubaix, can thank the squad for aiding their career trajectories. All in all, it’s clear that Spidertech was the closest to ever racing the Tour. Timing was not great for cycling—2012 was the year of Lance Armstrong’s admission of doping, and corporate sponsors may have been wary of entering professional cycling.

An honourable mention: IPT

Speaking of Boivin and Houle—there is a team currently, run by Sylvan Adams, an Israeli Canadian businessman born in Quebec City. Several Canadians call the team home—including Gee, Houle, Woods, Boivin, Riley Pickrell, and Pier Andre Cote. Its development team, the Continental Israel Premier Tech Academy, has multiple world track champ Dylan Bibic, and Luke Valenti. Although it is certainly not a Canadian team—it has given several Canucks a chance to shine at the Tour, notably Gee, Houle, and Woods.

O Canada! Hugo Houle the first Canadian to win a Tour de France stage since 1988

Will there ever be a Canadian men’s team at the Tour? It’s hard to say. Pro cycling isn’t cheap—although compared to, say, the budgets of NHL teams, it is. But pro cycling, despite its increase in popularity over the years in North America, is no hockey. Then again, if you told Gachon in 1937 – or Bauer in 1990 – about all the Canadians who have now ridden the Tour, they’d probably not believe you.