This is the beautiful story of this Tour de France 2022. Yesterday, during a particularly difficult stage which linked Carcassonne to Foix, the Canadian Hugo Houle won for the very first time in his career and at the same time became the first Quebecer to win a stage on the Grande Boucle. A real feat for the 31-year-old runner, already Canadian time trial champion in 2015 and 2021 and who appeared particularly moved when he arrived in Ariège.
Assured of victory, he then raised his eyes and his finger towards the sky, as if to send a message. This is exactly what he did since the Quebec rider dedicated his great victory to his brother, Pierrik, who died tragically ten years ago. After arriving, Hugo Houle took out a small silver cross and addressed the camera: “This one’s for my brother”, he said. It must be said that the story of his younger brother is particularly moving. At only 19 years old, Pierrik, who also dreamed of a cycling career, was fatally hit by a driver while jogging through the streets of his village.
It was my dream since he left us. It’s always been a motivation
Obviously happy with his exploit on the Tour de France, Hugo Houle obviously spoke about his brother at the microphone of France Télévisions after the race. “It was my dream since he (ed., his brother) left us. It has always been a motivation. It was a bit of a crazy dream, I had never won a race before today. But here, today I win”he explained on arrival.
Pierrik’s death was necessarily a terrible ordeal for Hugo Houle, very close to his younger brother, but who managed to grieve over time. “It’s quite a journey to make, it’s long but today, I’m good with it. I will always miss my brother. Someone so close, so dear, there are not many in life. It sure hurts”he explained a year ago in an interview with L’Équipe.