Steve Bauer
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| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Image:Steve Baurer-promo.png Steve Bauer |
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| Road bicycle racing | |||
Competitor for  Canada |
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| Olympic Games | |||
| Silver | 1984 Los Angeles | Individual Road Race | |
| Commonwealth Games | |||
| Silver | Brisbane 1982 | Individual Road Race | |
| World Championships | |||
| Bronze | 1984 Barcelona | Elite Men's Road Race | |
Steven Todd Bauer (born June 12, 1959 in St. Catharines, Ontario) is a former professional road bicycle racer from Canada.
Bauer joined the Canadian national cycling team in 1977, competing in team pursuit. He would remain on the national team for seven years, winning the national road race championship in 1981, 1982, and 1983, competing in the Commonwealth Games (1978, 1982), the Pan American Games (1979) and capping his amateur career with a silver medal in the men's cycling road race at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Bauer turned professional following the Olympics, and in his second professional race, won the bronze medal at the World Cycling Championship road race in Barcelona.
Between 1985 and 1995, he competed in 11 Tour de France competitions. He began his professional career in 1985 on the legendary La Vie Claire team of Bernard Hinault and Greg Lemond, where he stayed until leaving for Weinmann / La Suisse in 1988. Bauer finished fourth in the 1988 Tour de France, winning the first stage and wearing the yellow jersey for five days, becoming the second Canadian ever to wear the jersey. The first was Alex Stieda in 1986, who was also the first North American to ever wear the yellow jersey. Riding for the 7-Eleven team, Bauer wore the yellow jersey for nine days during the 1990 Tour de France, finishing the competition in 27th place.
At the 1988 world championship, Bauer collided with Belgian 1984 World Champion, Claude Criquielion, as they were sprinting for a gold medal finish. Bauer was disqualified and Criquielion sued Bauer for assault, asking for $1.5 million in damages in a case that dragged through the courts for more than three years before the judge ruled in Bauer's favor. In 1989 Bauer won the Züri-Metzgete.
In 1994, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal (civil division) for having "paved the way for Canada's coming generations of cycling enthusiasts". [1]
With professionals allowed in the Olympics, Bauer became a member of the Canadian team for the 1996 Summer Olympics, finishing 41st in the road race. He announced his retirement later that year at age 37. The following year, he co-founded Steve Bauer Bike Tours Inc.
In addition to running Steve Bauer Bike Tours, Steve is also currently the Directeur sportif for Team R.A.C.E., also referred to as the Team R Team. Team R Team is a Canadian cycling team committed to developing cyclists for competition on the international stage. The riders on the 2008 team are Mark Batty, Andrew Hunt, Dustin Macburnie, Buck Miller, Keir Plaice, Jöel Dion-Poitras, Mark Pozniak, Eric Robertson, Ryan Roth, Adam Thuss, Daniel Timmerman and Mark Walters [1]. The Team R Team will be riding Argon 18 bicycles during their 2008 campaign, which will include races across North America and, for the first time, in Europe [2].
[edit] Tour de France
- Participated in 11 Tours
- Won the first stage of the 1988 Tour.
- 14 days in Yellow Jersey.
Year of Tour and Overall Classification
- 1985 — 10th Wore White Jersey for most of the Tour. 6th fastest in individual time trials
- 1986 — 23rd
- 1987 — 74th
- 1988 — 4th Stage 1 Victory from Pontchateau to Machecoul and 5 days in Yellow Jersey
- 1989 — 15th
- 1990 — 27th Led the Tour, 9 consecutive days in Yellow Jersey
- 1991 — 97th
- 1993 — 101st
- 1995 — 101st
