Hugo Houle has high hopes of being selected to take part in the Tour de France (TDF) for the fourth consecutive year, next month. This will be the first for the Quebec cyclist in his new formation, Israel Premier Tech (IPT), he who has experienced such an experience three times in Astana.
Although he is considered one of the best lieutenants on the World Tour, the 31-year-old athlete has yet to prove himself. And although he will be surprised that he was not selected, Quebecer offers nothing.
If I performed like the beginning of the year on the Tour de Suisse, in theory, it should be beautifulconfessed the pride of Sainte-Perpétue, joined Isola 2000, in France, where his team has held camp since May 16. You have to perform well there because it’s easy to change riders. If we are not on the level, it opens the door to loss of choice. We are still about ten riders (for 8 positions) on the list and they will make the final selection after the Critérium du Dauphiné (June 5 to 12) and the Tour de Suisse.
Only his compatriot Michael Woods and Dane Jakob Fuglsang were sure of their place at the start of the TDF, in 1eh July, in Copenhagen.
Mike will go more for the stages, Houle confirmed. He wanted to do the Vuelta (August 19 to September 11), so it was a bit looser in his case. Jakob, his main goal was the whole lap. I don’t think he will fight for the general classification in three weeks. He will try to be great, especially when it comes to his home in Denmark. This is another motivation for him.
In the first three stages on Danish soil, the Tour de France is evolving, forcing cyclists to ride in less familiar territory. It may bring a different flavor in the beginningsaid Hugo Houle.
” The layout of the roads in Denmark is quite different and the wind is also present. But like all Tours de France, the first week was extremely tense. And these conditions will create more stress on the peloton, everyone is nervous because of the wind. There is really nothing to choose from at the general classification level. We also had to manage the trip to get to France afterwards. “
Great form despite difficult careers
On Tuesday, Houle finished 35e sa the classic Mercan’Tour, in France, in the Alpes-Maritimes. A moderate race, won by Jakob Fuglsang ahead of Michael Woods, both of Houle’s teammates.
It was a good race, very difficult and quite long (167.9 km). The day was hard on my side, I didn’t have the sensations I used to have every day in training. Now I am stronger than in the race. I don’t know where the problem came from, I have no strength or power. I couldn’t make the effort the day before. This may vary due to height. As we slept at a lower altitude the night before the race, it may have been related there. It wasn’t a main goal for me, but it was part of the program, because we were at Isola 2000, an hour away.
” We rented a chalet here and we had two physiotherapists, a trainer and a chef. We are massaged every day. We adapt the training according to the form and data collected. From one year to another, it provides references to see what worked or not, to manage training volumes and the intensity to be done. For my part, altitude gives me good help. I don’t have to push too much at altitude. Just going here is beneficial. “
On Thursday morning, Houle and the other IPT runners stuffed themselves around 130 kilometers in just five hours on a course with an elevation gain of 3,000 meters. And he is happy with his current form.
I think I’m better than other years, he says. I climbed better, a bit like I was starting the season. I can’t wait to see the Tour de Suisse. I worked well, I was ready. I am where I need to be physically, weight and workloads. I feel light and I think everything is in place.
This camp, which will end on Friday, has been beneficial to him, he believes. But next week he will see the results, he who will compete in the Grand Prix of the Canton of Aargau, on June 10, two days before the start of the Tour de Suisse.
You need five or six days to see the benefits, Houle estimates. Sometimes you have a bit of a backlash when you go down, but then, it takes a long time. And that is important because in the Tour de Suisse, there are many stages that take place in the mountains, at the top of 2000 m and in the Tour de France also, with mythical passes.
The value of experience
After 47e in 2020, his best result in the TDF, Houle finished at 66e ranked in 2021, in his final season in Astana. He ranked 91st in 2019 in his debut at the most prestigious event in planetary cycling.
He said he is better now than ever to face this race and prepare for it adequately. But his experience is enough to know that the unexpected always happens.
” I have performed well over the years so there is no deep questioning about the way I work. I keep the same base, but you always have to adjust according to the risks that arise, such as rain or fatigue. It’s not necessarily a copy-paste from one year to another, we don’t always feel the same. Sometimes, form comes easier than last year, so that’s the art of managing well, of not doing too much, just enough. “
The athlete’s experience becomes important no matter what the coach prescribes. At one point, the runner knows how he feels. We certainly have more and more data than time to track how we feel using sleep management applications, to see a little bit of how the heartbeat responds to awakening and oxygen saturation altitude. There are several parameters that allow us to raise red flags in case we drown in trying to do too much.
Managing stress is the main challenge on big tours but, again, the Canadian time trial champion’s experience will serve him well. Racial intelligence is a major asset.
There are certain days when you can breathe a little, explains the man who finished 13th in the time trial at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. That’s when you have a reasonable level. If you are privileged to make the day easier, it is better than some others who cannot go less to finish on time. There is some management for three weeks. There are days when you can slow down, recover. Obviously when you have a big leader fighting for general classification, you get frustrated almost every day because you work. When you have a team that is more aiming for stage wins or breakaways, you can have two or three more relaxing days, rallying the end to the group with the sprinters and then full you throttle in two or three targeted steps.
Israel-Premier Tech under pressure
Hit by Covid-19 at the start of the season, the Canadian-Israeli formation IPT was 18e in the world rankings, the last position that allows him to keep his World Tour license. The approximately 215 points Fuglsang and Woods grabbed in the race on Tuesday allowed him to miss 20e rank but uncertain.
” In fact, it’s a pretty hot topic right now with us and some other teams. Probably four are in this situation. But you have to understand that the system works for three years. In 2021, Israel Premier Tech had a good year, but in 2020 it turned into a disaster. It was like a ball being pulled to our ankles. “
If we don’t perform this year, we are at the limit in terms of points. The other formations have fewer points than us this year, but have more baggage accumulated over the past two years. I’m referring to Astana, for example. They have had a ton of points over the past two years and even though they are the last on the World Tour this year, there is no risk of being relegated.
In this sense, a double Mercan’Tour would be good for the morale of the troops, but nothing is certain. But the atmosphere remains beautiful, Houle said.
We are used to the pressure and we have to deliver the supplies. But we should not start to panic and do anything. The start of the season didn’t work out, but a season is long and we’re not in trouble.
Source: Radio-Canada
