Hugo Houle wins men's Canadian time trial title

Image 1 of 2

The Canadian national time trial titles have been contested for the first time in more than two years, with Hugo Houle winning the men’s title. 

The first national road championships since June of 2019 opened on Friday, hosted by the organizers of the Tour de Beauce, in the region south of Quebec City. 

Houle came into the race as the favourite after finishing 13th in the time trial at the Olympics. The Quebec rider won the title in 2015, and was fourth in 2016, the last time he attended the national championships. 

The Astana-Premier Tech rider was clearly riding at a different level then the rest of the field, completing the 34 kilometre course in 41:48, 1:39 ahead of second placed Alec Cowan (L39ion of Los Angeles). Olympic team pursuiter Derek Gee (Xspeed United) was third, at 1:45.

"It was a nice opportunity to be here this year," said Houle. 

"The last few years I haven't been able to attend the Nationals because I was preparing for the Tour de France. When I saw that it was in September this year, I had it in the back of my mind to try and win the jersey; it's always nice to be able to wear it in Europe."

"I'm glad I could do it; I think everyone was expecting it from me, but you still have to deliver the ride. Obviously, today was a really good day, and I felt strong from the start. I was able to execute my plan perfectly. It was a demanding course, a lot of up and down, and the rough road wasn't good, with a lot of holes and cracks. But I managed to stay on the bike and keep the tires safe all the way home. I'm really happy with my ride, it was the best I could give today and I was able to push to my limit."

The out-and-back course featured the well-known rolling Beauce terrain and rough roads. Rain held off for most of the day, but strong gusting crosswinds proved to be a factor.

"I was going 70 to 75 kmph on some of the downhills and the bike was swinging," admitted Houle. 

"It was scary the way the wind was pushing my bike around, I had to be quite careful."

Houle will line up for the road race on Saturday, looking to bring both Canadian national championship jerseys to the WorldTour.