There’s a Canadian riding in a yellow jersey at a cycling race in France. The rider is David Veilleux, and the race is the Criterium Dauphine.
Veilleux won the opening stage of the Dauphine on Sunday. The Canadian helped lead a breakaway 25 kilometres into the first stage, and then dropped the rest of the lead group on the Col du Corbier climb, riding 47 kilometres to the finish alone.
Over the second day of racing, Veilleux kept his nearly two-minute lead, a healthy margin so early in the eight-day race.
“This day in yellow has gone very well,” Veilleux said. “My teammates have done exceptional work. I owe them a lot. We never panicked. We always kept the race under control behind the four breakaway riders.”
The humble Veilleux does not yet have the recognition Ryder Hesjedal has, but many feel that is only a matter of time. As a junior, the racer from Cap-Rouge, Que., won the Tour L’Abitibi, and raced for Canada at the World Championships.
In 2006, during his first year racing U-23, Veilleux won both the road race and time trial titles at the Canadian Championships. The following year, he went pro and won another U-23 time trial title.
By the time Veilleux turned 24, he’d collected a series of victories in the U.S. and a second road race Canadian Championship. In the U-23 Canadian championships time trial, he was unbeatable.
In 2011, Veilleux signed a contract with the Europcar squad and finished 25th at the Paris-Roubaix, the best result of any North American that year. A year later, Veilleux won three events, including the Tre Valli Varesine.
Now 25 years old, Veilleux is riding ahead of the likes of Tour de France contenders Chris Froome and Alberto Contador, as well as Alejandro Valverde and Samuel Sanchez. Additionally, the Dauphine is not some third-rate, backwater race. Many feel the French race is a better indicator of Tour de France performance than last year’s Vuelta Espana.
Staying ahead of that bunch will be very difficult. Provided his team can continue to offer strong support and control the race, Veilleux could hold the lead until the time trial. At that point, Veilleux will have a true test racing against some of the best time trial riders in the world.
“I’ll do my best against the clock but against riders like Chris Froome or Tony Martin, two minutes aren’t much over 30 kilometres,” Veilleux said.
At every step of his career, Veilleux has risen to the challenge. Now it appears he’s doing that again.
Team Europcar is a Pro Continental team – one tier down from the World Tour teams. But the French team is strong and they work well together, most often for Thomas Voeckler. After breaking his collarbone at the Amstel Gold race in April, Voeckler was to lead the team at the Dauphine, but it could be that the strategy has changed.
“Thomas Voeckler rode for me because he knows our dedication to him on other occasions,” Veilleux said. “If we’re able to do the same again tomorrow, I may be able to keep the jersey for the time trial.”
Veilleux could be Canadian cycling’s best-kept secret. Despite his strong record of performance, he is rarely the one to speak about his riding. Instead, his riding speaks volumes. Veilleux is the second Canadian to win a stage at the Dauphine, following in the pedal stroke of Steve Bauer.
“It was worth trying,” Veilleux said of his Stage 1 victory. “I started to believe that something would be possible when our breakaway gained more than nine minutes. But later, it was only in the last 300 metres that I realized I’d won. It’s an enormous satisfaction. It comes from a lot of sacrifices and huge amounts of work. I’m happy that it has all paid off.”
As the significance of wearing the yellow jersey starts to sink in, Veilleux’s participation in a Grand Tour could finally be at hand. Team Europcar has had strong performances at the Tour de France in the past, and has yet to name their squad for the 2013 edition. But with such a dominant ride on the opening day of the Dauphine, Veilleux’s name should make the list.
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