The best-ever Tour de France finish by a Canadian
Finishing 4th overall in 1988, Steve Bauer beat the previous Canadian record (his own)
There are some people you just can't compete with — like Steve Bauer, who even competes hard against himself.
In 1988, the St. Catharines, Ont.,-born cyclist rolled to a fourth-place finish at the Tour de France, the best ever by a Canadian. The grueling race stretched out over three weeks and almost 3,300 kilometres.
"I think I surprised many, many people," Bauer, then 29, told reporters after the race was over, on July 24, 1988.
But had he been surprised by the final result?
"A little, a little — but deep down, not really, you know? Because, I think, I had the confidence I could do it," said Bauer, who won a silver medal in the individual road race event at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
His top-four finish at the Tour de France meant he had run over the previous Canadian record, which he had also set. (That was for a 10th-place finish in 1985.)
And it inspired many up-and-coming riders, including those from his hometown in southern Ontario, as shown below.
No Canadian has yet managed to equal or exceed Bauer's fourth-place finish on the Tour de France circuit, but Quebec's Hugo Houle won the 16th stage in July 2022 — an achievement unparalleled since Bauer captured the opening stage in 1988.
