(Montreal) If winning the jackpot in the lottery doesn’t change the world, winning a stage in the Tour de France doesn’t change a person either. At least, not Hugo Houle, according to his former teammate Martin Gilbert, met on the sidelines of the recent Montreal Cycling Grand Prix.
“The Hugo I recognize is the same Hugo I knew ten years ago,” confirms Gilbert, who was part of the Spidertech Powered by C10 continental team for three seasons. Houle was his teammate in 2011 and 2012, the year of the dissolution of the training set up by former cyclist Steve Bauer, now sports director at Israel – Premier Tech.
After a long career marked by a stage victory at the 2009 Tour of Missouri, a Pan-American title on the road in 2007 and a 12e place in the Madison race in track cycling at the Beijing Summer Olympics, Gilbert retired from the sport in 2012.
In his last race, the Grand Prix de Québec, he finished 111e and last rung. One row behind a certain… Hugo Houle! The following year, the two men took different paths: Gilbert returned to school to complete his studies in pharmacy and Houle joined the ranks of the World Tour by signing with AG2R-La Mondiale.
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When you consult the list of riders for the 2012 edition of the Spidertech Powered by C10 team, it is clear that this formation has been an important springboard for many. In addition to Houle, we find the name of Guillaume Boivin, who is still in the professional ranks at Israel — Premier Tech, François Parisien, who won a stage of the Tour of Catalonia the following year with Argos-Shimano, as well as Antoine Duchesne, intern at the time, who enjoyed a 13-year career in Europe, notably participating in the three major national tours.
“I was convinced that guys like Hugo, Guillaume and Antoine were going to go far,” continued Gilbert. And they went extremely far, but to say that one of them would win a stage in the Tour would be overexpectation ! »
This morning of July 19, 2022 when he saw Houle win solo between Carcassonne and Foix, Gilbert will remember it all his life.
“It was quite incredible and I would say that we were quite emotional,” recalls the man who is now a pharmacist-owner. “In addition, I work with two former teammates, Kevin Lacombe (Editor’s note: who also raced with Spidertech-C10) and Jean-François Laroche. We had a TV set up at work and we were more or less efficient those mornings I would say. We had tears in our eyes. »
The upcoming inauguration of the Bromont velodrome, the strong presence of Quebeckers in the Israel — Premier Tech team, in addition to the under-23 training set up by the Rivière-du-Loup multinational, all point to great days according to him.
“There has been a bit of a dip in Canadian and Quebec cycling, but there, I feel like feeling that there is a solid momentum that major sponsors are recreating. Guillaume, Hugo and Antoine is the continuation of Spidertech created by Steve Bauer during those years. There, I have the impression that there is another momentum which is starting again and which is even bigger than in our years. »
We ask him the question: would he like to be ten years younger today?
He laughs before going there with his answer: “It’s sure that when you look at that, these are super good years to be a Quebec cyclist. I think young people have a good timing. »
After the interview, his timing It was up to him to go and join his wife Mathilde Hupin, a former mountain bike athlete and bronze medalist tandem guide at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, who was taking care of their two children, while Dad dives back into his memories. sportsmen.
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