Quebec cyclist Hugo Houle will wear the uniform of the Israel Start-Up Nation team next year.
The 31-year-old veteran will join several compatriots at ISN, including Quebecers Guillaume Boivin and James Piccoli. Ontarian Michael Woods is also part of this team.
Woods, Houle and Boivin also represented Canada in the road cycling event at the Tokyo Olympics last summer.
Israel Start-Up Nation, which was founded in 2014, is partly owned by Canadian businessman Sylvan Adams, a former champion cyclist who emigrated to Israel in 2015. Paulo Saldanha, the team’s high performance director, is also a Canadian.
ISN took the opportunity to announce the signing of Houle’s teammate last year at Astana, Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang. The two athletes have agreed to three-year agreements each.
Houle, the reigning Canadian time trial champion, will take part in his 12th season as a professional cyclist in 2022.
“After four years at Astana-Premier Tech, this new challenge has given me a new source of motivation at the dawn of the next season,” Houle said in a press release. I am very happy to join ISN. I would like to thank Sylvan Adams for giving me the opportunity to come home. It was a natural fit, as he supported Canadian cycling through Team SpiderTech and the World Championships. »
“I am sure that the team will provide me with the best possible environment to allow me to progress as a cyclist next season, so that I can in turn contribute to the success of ISN,” he continued.
For his part, Adams welcomed Houle’s arrival.
“Hugo has become a true professional and, as I mentioned after reaching an agreement with him, he is coming home and will be able to race with his fellow Canadians, Mike Woods and Guillaume Boivin”, underlined Adams.
ISN Managing Director Kjell Carlstrom added, “In Hugo, we now have a strong prop who has demonstrated the ability to support his teammates, to position them in the right way for the right time.”
It remains unclear whether Canadian Steve Bauer, who served as sporting director at Astana, will follow Houle and Fuglsang to ISN.
Jakob Fuglsang, also at Astana, will also join the Israel SN team.
“Fuglsang is one of the best riders for the general classifications. This signing will strengthen us considerably, ”said Kjell Carlström, the sports manager of the Israeli team which recruited four-time Tour winner, Briton Chris Froome last year, with results far from his best level since his serious injury from June 2019.
Info from #mercato :
– Jakob Fuglsang (36 years old, ????????) and Hugo Houle (31 years old, ????????), from Astana, sign for 3 years with Israel Start-Up Nation.
– Marijn van den Berg (22 years old, ????????) and Georg Steinhauser (19 years old, ????????) have signed up for 2 years with EF. pic.twitter.com/NyHtN5I6F7
— The Gruppetto (@TheGruppetto) October 13, 2021
Fuglsang (36), double winner of the Critérium du Dauphiné and winner of two “monuments” (Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2019, Tour of Lombardy 2020), and Houle (31), Canadian time trial champion, have entered for three years.
“It’s a good time for me to try something new and I think ISN and I can benefit a lot from each other,” Fuglsang said as quoted by his future roster. “I am convinced that I still have some great victories to go and, of course, the Grand Départ of the Tour de France in Denmark next year will be a big goal”.
Fuglsang “will essentially replace a rider with quite similar qualities, the great Dan Martin, who is retiring after this year,” said team co-owner, Canadian Sylvan Adams.
