Words by Alex Stieda, the first Canadian (and North American) to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France.

I recently had the chance to catch up with fellow Canadian Hugo Houle of Astana-Premier Tech at his Monaco home. Houle, though only 30 years old has been a professional cyclist for the last decade, solidifying him as a bona fide veteran of the sport. As I caught up with the Quebec native, he was preparing to travel to the Tour de Suisse, but it was clear his focus was squarely on the primary objective of his season, the Tour de France.

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Due to the coronavirus, Hugo has had an unusual season. Instead of traveling home during the off season, Houle remained at his European base in Monaco all Winter. Usually, there was time to go back to Quebec to visit family and sponsor, Premier Tech before the heavy pre-season training started but in order to stay safe and ensure he’d be able to come back to Europe, he stayed put. 

Premier Tech, (a horticultural technology company from Quebec, Hugo’s native Province in Canada) has stepped up to be the secondary sponsor of the team. Having been involved in the regional cycling community for many years, the company is poised for international growth and views professional cycling as a perfect way to gain exposure in new markets. Hugo is perfectly situated to be both a spokesperson for Premier Tech and a have a sponsor that believes in his racing on the road. 

Winter training in Monaco is good since it doesn’t snow. Flat roads along the coast along with hills and mountains at their beck and call to the North. They had some cold days but they were generally able to ride every day in January and February approximately 100 hours per month. Given an average training pace of 30+km/hr, this equates to 3,000-4,000 km/month. On an average year, he logs between 25,000 and 30,000 total km! 

The racing started well for Hugo in late February with the Tour of Haute Var where Hugo placed himself in the break and rode well on a couple stages and saw some of his best power numbers of his 10 year pro career. Then trouble. He started to get sick. In a time of Covid, I’m sure this can be especially distressing. What’s key to understand here is that each team is contracted by the race organizers to bring a minimum number of riders to their race. If team members are sick, they often have to go to a race in order to fulfill the team’s obligations. 

He was just starting to recover and was sent to Terreno-Adriatico for that 6-day stage across the spine of Italy. Surprisingly, he felt great and stayed in Italy for Strada Bianche, again feeling good and helping the team. He was then sent to the Flanders classics where he got sick again! Even though diagnosed with a sinus infection, he was forced to race by the team and dug himself a pretty deep hole of fatigue. A long break after the Belgian races and a recent altitude training camp on Tenerife have now set him up for a great rest of season. 

NOTE: Since our interview, Hugo has completed the Tour of Switzerland placing 6th on stage 6 with a valiant effort in the break all day. He finished 30th on GC, helping his teammate Jakob Fuglsang to 3rd overall. 

For the next 2 weeks preceding the Tour de France start on June 26, he’ll be doing recovery rides and as he says "resting hard!"

However, the big news for Hugo is that Astana-Premier Tech will not be pursing GC ambitions at this year’s Tour. Without a designated GC rider, domestique duties are really a day to day affair. If a rider puts himself in a leading position or is feeling especially good that day, the team’s strategy will flex to support that rider. Hugo, Fuglsang, Lutsenko and Fraille are on the short list to start. As designated Road Captain, Hugo will be directing the team’s traffic from his position in the peloton while choosing some special days that suit his riding style to go for the stage win. Asked about which stages he’s focused on, Hugo remained coy, but if there are medium level mountains with technical descents, you can bet Hugo will be ready for action. Stage 7 looks to be an epic one with the longest stage in 21 years (249km) and over 3,000 meters of climbing, including hills towards the end of the race. My money is on Hugo Houle that day!