Riley Pickrell of Victoria continued establishing himself as a major part of the future of Canadian men’s road cycling by winning Stage 2 on Monday in the Tour de l’Avenir in France, which literally translates as the Tour of the Future.
The race is also referred to as the Under-23 Tour de France, the training ground for young elite riders who are touted to eventually graduate to the big time. The race was inaugurated in 1961 and past Tour de l’Avenir winners have included eventual Tour de France champions Greg LeMond, Miguel Induráin, Joop Zoetemelk, Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Felice Gimondi, Egan Bernal and Laurent Fignon.
“For sure, it’s my best result,” said Pickrell, in a post-race video tweeted by his Israel-Premier Tech team.
Polish rider Radoslaw Fratczak thought he had won the 195-kilometre stage from Nozay into Chinon and raised his hands in premature celebration before being pipped at the line by the hard-charging Pickrell.
“It was crazy,” added Pickrell, via Twitter.
“Team Israel team had a strong lead-out and I was trying to do my best to feed off them. It was a really close battle in the sprint but I managed to come out on top.”
The 22-year-old Islander was across in four hours, 42 minutes and 25 seconds. Pickrell was eighth in Stage 1 and is fifth in the overall standings. The team time trial is today. The eight-stage race runs through Sunday.
Monday’s result in France follows Pickrell’s victory in the fourth stage last year in the U-23 Giro d’Italia, nicknamed the Baby Giro. He was 29th in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Pickrell began as a hockey player before switching to speed-skating. He made another changeover when he joined cycling after a suggestion that his leg-thrust power was also suited to push a pedal. Pickrell joined the Victoria Tripleshot Club at the U-15 level and never felt the need to pursue another sport after that.
His achievements on the bike were felt early as he won five age-group Canadian championships and three of the seven stages to win the points jersey in the 2018 Tour de l’Abitibi in Quebec. His favourite local training ride is the circular route from Victoria to Port Renfrew to Duncan and back down. Pickrell is also as comfortable and adept training on the Juan de Fuca 1994 Commonwealth Games Velodrome in Colwood and was the top Canadian, with fourth place in the men’s scratch race, at the 2018 UCI world junior track cycling championships in Aigle, Switzerland. He also rode track at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games with the Canadian pursuit team.
Pickrell turned pro on the road with Trek Red Truck and is now with Israel-Premier Tech. He graduated from Claremont Secondary and the Canadian Sports School-Victoria, the latter operated by Canadian Sports Institute-Pacific at its PISE campus on Interurban Road.
