It is one thing to be a competitive cyclist, it is quite another to manage a team.
That’s what Canada’s most celebrated cyclist, Steve Bauer, is discovering managing a first-year Canadian squad, Team SpiderTech, which is hoping to one day compete with the best international teams in the premier events.
“Bike racing is easy,” Bauer said with a hearty laugh on Sept. 19 prior to his team competing in the pro-am division of the 2010 Toyota Queen’s Park Grand Prix in Toronto.
The team began with initial funding from Blackberry mogul Jim Balsillie, who is himself a cyclist. It continued with several other national companies, including Toronto-based SpiderTech—which produces sports therapy products—Saputo, Catalyst Capital Group Inc., Planet Energy and several others.
Bauer, a St. Catharines native who retired in 1990 following a celebrated career that included a silver medal in the 1984 Olympics, a fourth in the 1988 Tour de France and several national championships, is convinced his team is on the right track.
“It’s a tough go. It’s a lot of work,” Bauer added about his management role. “We believe we’re doing the right thing and pushing the envelope as best we can.
“We have a good corporate base, so we’re trying to expand that and call it the C10 — the Canadian 10 Corporations involved in this team. So we’re pushing the Canadian product and the Canadian mandate. We believe that’s going to help us progress.
Bauer said he hopes Canadian investment dollars in his team will lead to more Canadian pro riders.
“It’s primarily comprised of Canadian riders," he explained. "That’s our focus. We’re looking for our core group to be Canadians and to give our Canadian athletes an opportunity to reach the pro tour. That’s our game and that’s what we’re focused on. No doubt we’re hiring international riders as we go. I don’t believe we can be 100 per cent Canadian. Even some of our best Canadians have opportunities with other teams. As much as we’d like to have all the best guys it’s not easy to bring them all together. But we’ve done very well being Canadian.
“Our short range goal is Division 2 status next year. We’re raising the bar as far as the (international cycling body) level. That will give us an opportunity to be in the better races in Europe with the potential of other invitations. We’re likely an easier invitation for the Tour of California, which we’re confident we can do again (after competing in it this year) and most importantly, a shoe-in for the pro tour events in Quebec. As a continental team we’re not allowed to compete. As a Division 2 team we’re in the game.”
Becoming a Division 2 team is done through an application consisting of minimum requisites such as financials, roster size and salaries.
Bauer had high praise for Ryder Hesjedal, the Victoria, B.C. cyclist who finished seventh this year in the Tour de France in only his third try. He is ranked sixth in the world, which is a phenomenal standing considering he wasn’t even rated in the top-10 a year ago.
“It’s really confirmation and a wakeup call for everybody in Canada and everyone involved in the sport to realize how good of a rider he is,” Bauer added. “Sometimes, unfortunately, it takes a performance such as he’s done in the Tour de France for people to realize how good Ryder he is. The truth of the matter is he’s been competing amazingly all through a mountain bike career where he did some great things. Last year he won a stage in the Tour of Spain and this spring he won a stage in the Tour of California as well as the Amstel Gold Race in Holland.
“He’s done some amazing things as a road athlete. Obviously nothing compares to what he did in the Tour de France, but it just proves he’s arrived as a world road athlete.
“It helps everybody (in Canadian cycling). No doubt it helps him. He’s a rider at the top of his game. It helps what we’re doing with Team SpiderTech because there’s a goal for this team to reach the pro tour. Our sponsor is excited about what he’s done and other Canadians in the sport. All that momentum with the leadership from Ryder, it’s going to help everybody.”