July 29, 2019 (France) – The Tour de l’Avenir is a UCI Nations’ Cup race, Aug. 16-25, for men under 23 years old (U23). The race is one of seven in the Nations’ Cup series that determines valuable start quota allocations for countries at the World Championships and the event is reserved primarily for National Teams. The U23 category is also called “espoir” – or hope. The race’s name “Avenir” translates to “Future”. So, literally, the race is for our “hopes for the future”. A mini Tour de France for cyclists who may, ultimately,  one day showcase themselves in the Tour de France and the biggest road races in the world.

L’Avenir is widely regarded as the most important and prestigious stage race for U23s in the world. The best professional teams watch the race, and its importance for recruiting emerging talent is historic. Starting in 1961, this year’s race will be the 56th edition. The list of former winners is filled with athletes who’ve gone onto the heights of professional cycling; Egan Bernal who just won the Tour de France won the Tour de l’Avenir in 2017. Chaves, who bested Boily in 2011, went on to place on the podium in the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta Espana.

Canada’s ability to return to this race in 2019 is thanks to collaboration and support from private donors and the Hamilton Foundation (HF). The Hamilton Foundation is a private legacy fund created after the 2003 Road World Championships that took place in Hamilton, Ontario. The general directors of the HF are former Executive Directors, Presidents, Performance Directors and athletes of Cycling Canada. Luc Despins, a director on the board of the HF and member of Cycling Canada’s newly empaneled Fundraising Committee, coordinated the private fundraising for the project.  Working closely with Pierre Hutsebaut, Luc, the board of the HF and Cycling Canada have collaborated diligently for many months to bring the project from idea to reality.

The goal of this project is to create program continuity, opportunity, and development for our Under 23 athletes. The secondary hope is for this project to catalyze excitement within our community of alumni, sponsors, and partners as Cycling Canada rebuilds and refocuses energy on its development and elite road programs after an incredibly successful 2018 Road World Championships performance in Austria last year.

“In a review of our  High Performance programs conducted last fall, Peter Keen stressed a need for a future ‘mixed-economy’ for Cycling Canada. One where we collaborate more broadly with multiple stakeholders and partners to deliver value in new ways to our athletes, members, and our community. This project is a perfect example of how we will increasingly operate in the future. I’m thrilled and grateful for the support of the Hamilton Foundation, in particular, Luc and Pierre’s efforts to make this project a reality for some of our most promising young athletes.” – Matt Jeffries, Executive Director of Cycling Canada

“We have an exciting wave of U23 men coming through the ranks,” said Kevin Field, Head of Performance Strategy and director of the road programs at Cycling Canada. “This will be an amazing race opportunity for our guys, not just for our build-up toward the U23 World Championships, also for their future. Pier-André has already graduated up from Continental to ProContinental and I’m pretty confident we’ll see others take the step to the next level, in great part thanks to the opportunity to showcase themselves in this race (Tour de l’Avenir). The selection has a balance of guys from 1st to final year of U23, so for those who don’t graduate, the race will be a crucial development opportunity to carry through the remainder of their time as U23s. ”

This year’s race will be 10 stages traversing southern France from Marmande (west of Toulouse) to Saint-Colomban-des-Villards in the French Alps. The race starts August 15 and finishes August 25. 156 riders from 26 teams will take the start: 23 national teams, 2 regional selections and one international mixed team (CMC – from the UCI World Cycling Centre).

Team Canada:

– Nickolas Zukowsky – Sainte-Lucie-des-Laurentides, QC / Trade Team:  Floyd’s Pro Cycling
Canadian U23 road champion, bronze medalist in the Elite road race,  Canada’s highest-ranked U23 in the international and America Tour Standings and winner of the 2019 GP Saguenay
– Pier-André Côté – Lévis, QC / Trade Team: Rally-UHC
Winner of 3 stages at the 2019 GP Saguenay
– Adam Roberge – Prévost, QC / Trade Team: Elevate-KHS
Canadian U23 time trial champion, bronze medalist in the Elite time trial
– Ben Katerberg – Comox, BC / Trade Team: Sunweb Development
– Laurent Gervais – Montréal, QC / Trade Team: Aevolo
– Charles-Etienne Chrétien – Amos, QC / Trade Team: Interpro

More race info here.