Hugo Houle Wins Canadian ITT Championship for Second Time
Canadian cyclist Hugo Houle has been crowned the winner of the Canadian individual time trial championship for the second time in his career. The race took place in Beauce, Quebec, and Houle completed the 34-kilometer course in 41:18, setting the fastest time by 1:39 over Alexander Cowan from LE9ion of Los Angeles.
“I’m really happy to win the Canadian time trial championships again and have the chance to wear the jersey. A lot of people expected me to win the race so it put quite a bit of pressure on me to deliver. You never know what kind of legs you will have on the day but after I started the effort, around five to six minutes in, I could feel my legs were good and I was on a good day. The first part of the course was a bit uphill, a lot of up and down, so I knew I had to go really strong on the way out. At the halfway point after 17 kilometers, I caught the rider in front and I could see the other riders were quite close. So, on the way back, I gave everything. Because you don’t have much information in the race and you never know if someone will have a good second half, you have to go all in,” said Houle.
“I came here with the idea of winning and I’m really proud to win today, especially as it’s important for Premier Tech and they have supported me for so long. I haven’t been able to race the Championships for a few years because I have always been preparing for the Tour de France when they are normally held in June so this year, with the race postponed to September, it worked out perfectly. Tomorrow, I have the road race and I will try my best to win. Of course, it is much harder to control the race when you are only one rider but I will do my best.”
Houle, who previously won the national title in 2015, expressed his pride in winning and the importance of the victory for his team, Premier Tech. He also mentioned the challenges of racing in the championship due to his previous Tour de France preparations. Houle will now focus on the road race, aiming to bring both Canadian national championship jerseys to the WorldTour.
