Michael Woods (cyclist)

Michael Woods (born 12 October 1986) is a Canadian racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam EF Pro Cycling.[5]

Michael Woods
Personal information
Born (1986-10-12) 12 October 1986
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight64 kg (141 lb)[1]
Team information
Current teamEF Pro Cycling
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeClimber
Amateur team
2012Stevens Racing[2]
Professional teams
2013Team Québecor Garneau[3]
2014Amore & Vita–Selle SMP[3]
20145-hour Energy[3]
2015Optum–Kelly Benefit Strategies
2016–2020Cannondale[4]
Major wins
Grand Tours
Vuelta a España
1 individual stage (2018)

One-Day Races and Classics

Milano–Torino (2019)

For the 2021 season, Woods will join Israel Start-Up Nation on a three-year contract.[6]

Career

Athletics career

Woods' first sport was ice hockey and his childhood ambition was to play as a left wing for the Toronto Maple Leafs.[1] Prior to becoming a cyclist, Woods was a promising middle-distance runner, setting Canadian national junior records in the mile and 3000 metres in 2005, as well as taking the gold medal in the 1500 metres at the 2005 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships.[2] However, he suffered a recurring stress fracture in his left foot, exacerbated by excessive training and racing, resulting in his running his last race in 2007.[2][7] Woods underwent surgery twice in order to correct the problem without success. He took up cycling initially as cross-training before friends persuaded him to enter races.[2]

Woods was taught English at school by Paul Dewar, who was later elected as a Member of Parliament.[1] Woods attended the University of Michigan on a track athletic scholarship, graduating in 2008.[2] Whilst at UoM he was coached by Ron Warhurst.[8]

Cycling career

Woods began cycling professionally with Team Québecor Garneau in 2013.[9]

On 20 August 2015 it was announced that Woods would join Cannondale for the 2016 cycling season.[10]

In 2016, Woods was officially named in Canada's 2016 Olympic team.[11] Woods was also named in the start list for the 2017 Giro d'Italia.[12] He finished the 2017 Giro, his first grand tour, in 38th place, taking two fifth-place stage finishes along the way and helping teammate Pierre Rolland to win a stage.[13] Woods was later named in the start list for the 2017 Vuelta a España where he finished his second Grand Tour in 7th place, taking one third-place finish and five top-tens.[14]

In 2018, Woods scored what he described as "the best result of my career" by finishing second in the Liège–Bastogne–Liège race.[15] In September 2018, Woods won Stage 17 of the Vuelta a España, which finished up a steep climb to Balcón de Bizkaia.[16][17] On 30 September, Woods finished 3rd at UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race in Innsbruck, Austria; the first Canadian Elite Men's podium finish since Svein Tuft's silver medal in 2008 (time trial) and Steve Bauer's bronze-medal performance in 1984 Road Race.[18]

In July 2019, he was named in the startlist for the 2019 Tour de France.[19] In October 2019 he won oldest classic race, 100th edition of Milano–Torino.[20] In August 2020, it was announced that Woods was to join Israel Start-Up Nation from the 2021 season, on a three-year contract.[6]

Major results
2013
9th Overall Tour de Beauce
2014
4th Road race, National Road Championships
6th Overall Tour de Beauce
2015
1st Clássica Loulé
2nd Overall Tour of Utah
1st Stage 5
2nd Philly Cycling Classic
4th Overall Tour of the Gila
1st Stage 5
10th Overall Tour of Alberta
1st Canadian rider classification
2016
2nd Milano–Torino
5th Overall Tour Down Under
2017
2nd GP Miguel Indurain
7th Overall Vuelta a España
9th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2018
1st Stage 17 Vuelta a España
2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
3rd Road race, UCI Road World Championships
4th Giro dell'Emilia
4th Tre Valli Varesine
9th Overall Tour of Utah
2019
1st Milano–Torino
2nd Giro dell'Emilia
2nd Japan Cup
3rd Overall Herald Sun Tour
1st Stage 2
5th Giro di Lombardia
5th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
6th Overall Volta a Catalunya
7th Overall Tour Down Under
8th Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal
9th Clásica de San Sebastián
10th Overall Tour de Romandie

Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Grand Tour 2016 2017 2018 2019
Giro d'Italia — 38 19 —
Tour de France — — — 32
Vuelta a España — 7 34 —
Major stage race general classification results timeline
Race 2016 2017 2018 2019
Paris–Nice — 54 — —
Tirreno–Adriatico — — — —
Volta a Catalunya 18 37 79 6
Tour of the Basque Country 53 12 29 —
Tour de Romandie — — — 10
Critérium du Dauphiné — — — DNF
Tour de Suisse — 26 — —

Classics results timeline
Monument 2016 2017 2018 2019
Milan–San Remo — — — —
Tour of Flanders — — — —
Paris–Roubaix — — — —
Liège–Bastogne–Liège — 9 2 5
Giro di Lombardia 31 — 13 5
Classic 2016 2017 2018 2019
Amstel Gold Race — — 20 68
La Flèche Wallonne 12 11 33 55
Clásica de San Sebastián 61 — — 9
Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec 27 — — 17
Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal 30 — — 8
Legend
— Did not compete
DNF Did not finish
gollark: I, for one, would like to live to 260.00003.
gollark: Which is a bad thing.
gollark: No, I don't really think so.
gollark: Utilitarianishly speaking, and assuming we could only do one language, python was probably the correct choice.
gollark: I don't remember you saying anything like "please consider adding more languages".

References
  1. Woods, Michael (13 October 2015). "Michael Woods: Letting the ink dry". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  2. Holder, Gord (28 August 2013). "Profile: Ottawa's Mike Woods' journey from runner to racing in the Tour of Alberta". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  3. Michael Woods at Cycling Archives
  4. "EF Education First Pro Cycling". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  5. Bacon, Ellis (1 January 2020). "2020 Team Preview: EF Education First". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  6. "Top Canadian cyclist to join Israeli Tour de France team". The Times of Israel. The Times of Israel Ltd. Agence France-Presse. 12 August 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  7. Malach, Pat (3 March 2015). "Michael Woods: Turning running heartbreak into cycling success". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  8. Woods, Michael (1 January 2016). "Michael Woods: Alone on a mountain top". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  9. "Canadian cyclist Michael Woods among top 10 at Vuelta". Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  10. "Cannondale-Garmin announces Mike Woods, former runner-turned-pro-cyclist, to join team in 2016". Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  11. Tozer, Jamie (29 June 2016). "Returning Olympians highlight Canada's cycling team". www.olympic.ca. Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  12. "2017: 100th Giro d'Italia: Start List". Pro Cycling Stats. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  13. "A sub-4-minute miler at age 18, Rusty Woods is now lighting up pro cycling at age 30". Business Insider. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  14. "Michael Woods". www.procyclingstats.com.
  15. Ryan, Barry (22 April 2018). "Jungels wins Liege-Bastogne-Liege". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  16. "Vuelta a Espana 2018: Simon Yates maintains overall classification lead". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
  17. "Michael Woods: How personal tragedy inspired Canadian cyclist's greatest success". 19 June 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  18. "Mike Woods achieves rare Canadian cycling feat at road race worlds". CBC Sports. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  19. "2019: 106th Tour de France: Start List". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  20. "Woods wins Milano-Torino". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
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