Canadian cycling legend Steve Bauer is confident that a predominantly home-grown team he helped found will one day compete at the Tour de France, but cautioned it will take time, effort and more money to grow his vision into a reality.
A group of 15 riders was unveiled as part of a gala ceremony Thursday at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. The team, comprised of 13 Canadians, an American and one rider from Mexico, will compete across North America and in Europe this year.
"We're going to grow this team into the future with a vision that we believe that we can take it to the top," Bauer said. "And there's no reason why we shouldn't stand here all together and think we should go halfway. We should aim for the Tour de France. We should aim for the top.
It will not be cheap. With travel expenses, salaries and support staff, Bauer said it could cost as much as $10-million annually to move in the circles of other elite teams at the Tour de France.
Bauer raced at the Tour de France 11 times, and wore the fabled Yellow Jersey, given to the race leader at the end of a stage, 14 times.
He said his team will have to grow its budget to have similar success.
"We have to be realistic - not all of these athletes on the stage today will make it to the big leagues, or go to the Tour de France," Bauer said. "But I believe, within their midst, there are athletes on our team that have the opportunity, given the opportunity to grow their talents."
Team members, such as Martin Gilbert, who represented Canada at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, walked across a stage in white uniforms with green trim and the logos of a handful of sponsors. BlackBerry is among the sponsors, with Research In Motion Inc., co-CEO Jim Balsillie acting as one of the driving forces behind the team's formation.
Balsillie was not present for the unveiling, which featured a video greeting from American Tour de France hero Lance Armstrong. With more than a dozen sponsors offering support, the Canadian team will be known as Team SpiderTech, powered by Planet Energy.
"Obviously, cycling, on the professional side of things, is a sleeper when you look at the National Hockey League, or the NFL," Bauer said. "But at the highest level, cycling attracts a lot of attention ... the gap between what we're doing and those big races needs to be filled, and I think that's where we're coming in."
Curt Harnett, who represented Canada four times at the Olympics - in Los Angeles (1984), Seoul ('88), Barcelona ('92) and Atlanta ('96) - said the time is right to increase the sport's profile at home.
"The popularity has been growing pretty dramatically in Canada," he said. "There's no doubt that the full live coverage of the Tour de France on TSN day-in, day-out, is doing a significant amount to raise its popularity."
The team is aiming to be the first with a Canadian core, funded by Canadian sponsors, to compete in the sport's elite circles. It is also aiming to compete at home later this year, when Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) ProTour makes two stops in Canada.
A number of the top-ranked teams in the world will descend on Quebec City for the first stop on Sept. 10, for a torturous 189-kilometre tour through a series of hills. The teams are scheduled to travel by train to Montreal for a race two days later, a 195.2-km event with a series of climbs up Mont Royal.
"Canada needs Steve Bauer, he's the only guy who can bring to Canada a top team at the top level," race organizer Serge Arsenault said. "That's our leader."