Cycling’s most famous race kicked off Saturday. The 21-stage Tour de France covers more than 3,600 kilometres over 23 days, and this year, two Canadians are riding alongside nearly 200 cyclists from across the world.
Meet the two Spandex-clad Canucks currently competing for the coveted yellow jersey.
Svein Tuft
Langley, B.C.-native Svein Tuft is coming off two recent wins on the Canadian cycling circuit. Tuft took down the Canadian road cycling championships on June 28, two days after winning his ninth Canadian National Time Trial Championships in 11 years.
In 2013, Tuft made his Tour de France debut at 36 years old, earning him the title of “oldest Tour rookie of the modern era.”
Though Tuft finished last year’s Tour well out of contention, he’s back riding again this year with Canadian teammate Christian Meier. After three stages, he sits in 138th place out of 196 riders.
Christian Meier
Christian Meier was a last-minute addition to the Tour de France. After an injury to Australian Michael Matthews, the 29-year-old from Sussex, N.B., flew across the ocean to join his teammates on the Australian squad Orica-GreenEdge.
Meier currently sits in 154th place on this year’s Tour, three minutes ahead of stage one and three winner Marcel Kittel of Germany. He also finished third in this year’s Canadian road cycling championship.
Meier is more active than Tuft – at least on social media. He’s been detailing his journey on Twitter and Instagram since he first found out he’d be competing.
