Underground stage of the Tour de l'Abitibi

The Tour de l'Abitibi is a junior bicycle stage race taking place in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec, Canada. The race was first held in 1969 and had only Canadian teams. It has since become an international competition, part of the Junior Nations' Cup (Coupe des Nations Junior) and is currently the only junior-level race in North America sponsored by the Union Cycliste Internationale. A number of renowned cyclists, such as Steve Bauer, Laurent Jalabert, Bobby Julich and Andrew Hampsten, have participated in the Tour before they launched their professional careers.

Since 2000, one stage of the Tour de l'Abitibi takes place in an underground mine of Cité de l'Or, some 300 feet (91 m) below ground. Cyclists must ride through the tunnels and up the access ramp (a 17% slope) before they race through the streets of Val-d'Or.

Winners

YearWinnerSecondThird
1969Canada Gérard RocheleauBelgium Robert Van Den EyndeCanada Serge Proulx
1980Canada Alex Stieda
1981France Bruno WojtinekFrance Franck Pineau
1985Netherlands André van WijngaardenCanada Chris KobersteinCanada Nathael Sagard
1986Netherlands Michel ZanoliFrance Laurent JalabertNetherlands Richard Luppes
1987United States Frank McCormackUnited States Darren BakerFrance Jean-Cyril Robin
1988United States Bobby Julich
1989United States Bobby Julich
1991Slovenia Gorazd Štangelj
1992Canada Roland Green
1993United States Sean McDonald
1994Canada Guillaume BelzileRussia Alexei Kuznetsov
1995Canada Neil GroverRussia Denis MenchovGermany Sven Claussmeyer
1996France David Rolandez
1997United States Joshua ThorntonUnited States David ZabriskieUnited States Phil Zajicek
1998United States William FrischkornGermany Michael WieczorekNetherlands Bobbie Traksel
1999United States Brad BuccambosoSouth Africa Alwyn ScheepersUnited States Sterling Magnell
2000Poland Piotr MazurNetherlands Koen de KortSouth Africa Wesley Cole
2001Finland Jukka VastarantaNetherlands Niels ScheunemanNetherlands Norbert Poels
2002United States Tyler FarrarCanada Oliver Stiller-CroteUnited States Craig Wilcox
2003Netherlands Kai ReusUnited States Matthew CraneUnited States Steven Cozza
2004United States Christopher StockburgerUnited States Zachary BolianBelgium Michael Vanderaerden
2005Canada David VeilleuxCanada Eric BoilySweden Jonas Bjelkmark
2006Canada Mark HinnenCanada William GoodfellowCanada Guillaume Boivin
2007United States Taylor PhinneyNew Zealand Tom DavidCanada Guillaume Blais-Dufour
2008France Arnaud JouffroyUnited States Charlie AvisCanada David Boily
2009United States Andrew BarkerUnited States Charlie AvisNew Zealand Taylor Gunman
2010Australia Lachlan MortonUnited States Eamon LucasUnited States Zack Noonan
2011New Zealand James OramNew Zealand Dion SmithUnited States Colby Wait-Molyneux
2012United States Taylor EisenhartUnited States Alexey VermeulenUnited States Geoffrey Curran
2013United States Brendan RhimAustralia Owen GillottCanada Olivier Brisebois
2014France Rayane BouhanniUnited States Zeke MostovDenmark Mathias Norsgaard
2015United States Adrien CostaUnited States Brandon McNultyFrance Théo Menant
2016United States Brandon McNultyDenmark Mikkel BjergUnited States Kevin Goguen
2017United States Riley SheehanMexico Fernando IslasCzech Republic Richard Holec
2018United States Riley SheehanUnited States Kendrick BootsUnited States Michael Garrison
2019United States Michael GarrisonUnited States Matthew RiccitelloCanada Lukas Carreau
2020Cancelled
2021Cancelled
2022France Lucas MainguenaudFrance Mathieu DupéFrance Mathéo Barusseau
2023Canada Matthew NeyCanada Ethan PowellUnited States Alejandro Che
2024France Ellande LarrondeNew Zealand Oliver ScottCanada Ben Morin
2025France Gabin GicquelFrance Alban PicardCanada Maxime Bourassa

External links