Hugo Houle’s boost to the yellow jersey

“I gave him a wink and said: come on, I’m going ahead…”

Simon Drouin
The Press

The cycling peloton is a small society. With its friendships and its rivalries, its leaders and its followers, its alliances and its low blows. It is sometimes the scene of simple disinterested gestures of solidarity. Here is an unnoticed past this summer at the Tour de France.

At the 15^e stage, the day before the last day of rest, Jonas Vingegaard fell after a collision in the peloton 58 kilometers from the finish in Carcassonne. A little earlier, the yellow jersey had lost Steven Kruijswijk, one of his main lieutenants in the mountains, victim of a broken collarbone.

On this other torrid day, it was a bit of a panic in the Jumbo-Visma team, already deprived of their comer Primož Roglič, who withdrew before the start, unable to recover from his tumble in the cobblestone stage towards Arenberg .

Obviously, the members of the Dutch formation, less Wout van Aert who was preparing an intermediate sprint, rallied around Vingegaard. The yellow jersey left fairly quickly after a change of bike, hit in the shoulder and left knee.

Towed by his teammate Christophe Laporte, Vingegaard quickly returned to the back of the pack.

“I made a big effort for that, remembered the French rider before the start of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec on Friday morning. I stayed behind and [Jonas] got back into the peloton on his own. »

The Dane absolutely wanted to get back to the front as he approached the last difficulty of the day, about fifty kilometers from the finish.

Halfway through his maneuver in a very stretched peloton, Vingegaard found himself a little ahead of Hugo Houle. The Quebecer from Israel-Premier Tech had stopped earlier to support his teammate Jakob Fuglsang, who suffered a rib injury during the incident involving Kruijswijk.

Houle also wanted to reposition himself before the climb, even if he had no intention of getting involved in the final sprint where he still finished 14^etwo days after his spectacular third place in Saint-Étienne.

“I was a bit alone because I had waited for Jakob,” he said in an interview last week. I saw that Vingegaard was alone too. It was going strong, the guys were all on the limit. He had trouble getting back up a bit. He was stressed. Me, I had nothing to do and I wanted to go up. I looked at him, gave him a wink and said, “Come on, I’m going ahead.” »

The yellow jersey took the wheel of Houle to join van Aert in the top positions. Incident closed.

“I do that sometimes to guys I find smattes or who have an important stake”, explained Houle, surprised to learn that his intervention had been reported two days later on Danish television. “Me, I had nothing to play that day. When I go back up, I’m already making the effort. I could see he was a bit confused. I replaced it. He was very happy. »

A story of friendship

Laporte was not aware of the Canadian’s gesture. “It’s a question of affinities, I think, he noted. When something happens to a leader, whether it’s not a physical problem or something else, it’s always nice to get help from a rider who has nothing special to play for that day. If Hugo did that, it’s because he likes Jonas. »

Impression confirmed by the principal concerned.

These free boosts can also be an investment for the future. “At some point, it’s a question of respect. One day, I’m all alone on a breakaway, he has the jersey, he says to his guys: leave him in front, he’s cool…”

Two days later, Houle did not need this magnanimity during the 16^e stage between Carcassonne and Foix. Only his legs, his heart and his racing sense led him to a historic first stage victory for a Quebecer at the Tour de France.

On the sidelines of the podium ceremony, he ran into Vingegaard, who warmly thanked him for his boost.