photo by Pedalmag
A few years ago, shortly after I discovered E-Bay, I located a pristine Team7-Eleven jersey and sent it off to the Niagara Peninsula to see if I could get it signed by Steve Bauer, who remains Canada's most successful stage racer. He was kind enough to autograph it for me. Although Alex Stieda was the first Canadian to don the Maillot Jaune in the Tour de France, Steve Bauer had the yellow jersey for four days at the Tour for 1988, and for nine times in 1990. Now I see that he is, in addition to his bike touring company, the Directeur Sportif of a Canadian professional team, SpiderTech presented by Planet Energy. (As an aside, I always thought it was weird when this "presented by" thing appeared. I think it was Team US Postal Service presented by Berry Floors where this ridiculous naming convention first appeared. What would be wrong with SpiderTech-Planet Energy, like Garmin-Transitions, or HTC-Columbia?). To raise money for the team, Mr. Bauer auctioned off the last of the yellow jerseys he won and it raised the goodly sum of $23,500.
There are recent news stories that Jim Balsillie, one of the founders of Research in Motion (RIM), makers of the omnipresent BlackBerry, is a keen cyclist and wants to support Canadian cycling and this team in particular. As the 327th richest person in the world, let's hope he comes through with some money so Steve doesn't have to go through those remaining 12 jerseys.
Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli
