Canadian, Hugo Houle had his moment of glory narrowly missing on a first stage victory for a Canadian in 34 years. The Israel Premier Tech rider was in a group of three riders who broke away with 20 kilometers. His performance sees him climb to 35th overall. Houle's previous best Tour de France was seventh place on stage 12 in 2020.
The only Canadian to win a stage in the Tour de France is Steve Bauer, who won the first stage in 1288. Bauer is the sporting director of Israel-Premier Tech. Houle's teammate, Montrealer Guillaume Boivin had a good day finishing 17th, 134th overall. Antoine Duchesne, from Saguenay, finished 63rd, 91st overall. Ottawa's Mike Woods finished 96th, 62nd overall.
"I'm really happy with the way I raced today. This is a good step forward and it gives me even more motivation for the next stages.
The guys are sprinters and I'm a bit limited with my weight here but I am really happy that I could stay with Mads Pedersen in the final and get third place. With the breakaway that we had, I think I can be proud of this result. That's my best race ever in the Tour and I'm moving one step forward in the good direction to get that win but I showed today that I am in shape and was there when I needed to be. "
-Hugo Houle
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