CYCLISTS from Canada

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Canadian Cyclists of all time. This list of famous Canadian Cyclists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Canadian Cyclists.

1. Steve Bauer (b. 1959)

With an HPI of 51.24, Steve Bauer is the most famous Canadian Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages on wikipedia.

Steven Todd Bauer, MSM (born June 12, 1959) is a retired professional road bicycle racer from Canada. He won the first Olympic medal in road cycling for Canada and until 2022 he was the only Canadian to win an individual stage of the Tour de France (Ryder Hesjedal, Svein Tuft and Alex Stieda had been part of winning team time trial squads).

2. Ryder Hesjedal (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 48.43, Ryder Hesjedal is the 2nd most famous Canadian Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Eric Ryder Hesjedal (; born December 9, 1980) is a Canadian retired professional racing cyclist who competed in mountain biking and road racing between 1998 and 2016. Hesjedal won a silver medal at the 1998 Junior, 2001 Under-23, and Elite world championship in mountain biking. He turned professional with U.S. Postal Service in 2004 after several years with the Rabobank continental team. Having previously finished in fifth place at the 2010 Tour de France, Hesjedal won his first and only Grand Tour at the 2012 Giro d'Italia, the first Grand Tour win by a Canadian. Other major wins include two stages at the Vuelta a España, the first such stage wins by a Canadian. Danish cyclist Michael Rasmussen asserted in his autobiography that he taught Hesjedal how to take erythropoietin (EPO). Hesjedal later admitted that this doping allegation was "the truth" and that he "chose the wrong path". Hesjedal has not served a ban as a result of his confession to USADA, and has publicly expressed a desire to be honest and transparent. VeloNews reported in 2014 that "The 33-year-old Canadian, however, stopped short of explaining what drugs he took, and when".

3. Alison Sydor (b. 1966)

With an HPI of 43.80, Alison Sydor is the 3rd most famous Canadian Cyclist.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Alison Jane Sydor (born September 9, 1966) is a Canadian retired professional cross-country mountain cyclist. She began cycling at age 20 and is a graduate of the University of Victoria. She won a silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in mountain bike, and has won three world mountain bike championships gold medals (1994 in Vail, Colorado; 1995 in Kirchzarten, Germany; and 1996 in Cairns, Australia) and the 2002 relay race in Kaprun, Austria. Sydor has also won five silver medals (1992, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2003) and three bronze (1998, 1999 (relay race), 2004) at mountain bike world championships, and one bronze at the road world championships (1991). In addition, Sydor has won 17 World Cup (cross-country) races in her career, and for 13 consecutive years (1992–2004) never finished outside of the top-5 at the world championships. In 1995 and 1996, Sydor was awarded the Velma Springstead Trophy as Canada's top female athlete. In September 2007 Sydor was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. In December 2007 it was announced that Sydor would be inducted into British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2008 at a ceremony on May 29, 2008. Sydor and teammate Pia Sundstedt won the Women's Category in the Absa Cape Epic in 2008. Sydor then came back to win the Mixed Category with Nico Pfitzenmaier in 2009. In 2013, Sydor was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.

4. Michael Woods (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 43.08, Michael Woods is the 4th most famous Canadian Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Michael Russell "Rusty" Woods (born 12 October 1986) is a Canadian professional racing cyclist, who rides for UCI ProTeam Israel–Premier Tech. An accomplished runner as well, Woods was the first person to have both run a sub-four-minute mile and complete the Tour de France.

5. Lori-Ann Muenzer (b. 1966)

With an HPI of 40.93, Lori-Ann Muenzer is the 5th most famous Canadian Cyclist.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Lori-Ann Muenzer (born 21 May 1966) is a retired Canadian track cyclist who competed between 1993 and 2004. As a Track Cycling World Championships competitor during the 2000s, she received three medals in the sprint and one in the time trial. Muenzer won two medals in sprint and one in time trial as a Commonwealth Games competitor. As a time trial competitor in the Olympic Games, she was 13th at the 2000 Summer Olympics and seventh at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Muenzer was a gold medal-winning athlete at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the sprint. She is "the first Canadian ... to win an Olympic cycling gold medal." Muenzer was the only Canadian until Kelsey Mitchell received gold at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She held two Cycling Canada records for over ten years. Outside of sports, Muenzer worked as a legal secretary between the late 1990s and 2020. She received the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award in 2004 and joined the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.

6. Brian Walton (b. 1965)

With an HPI of 40.73, Brian Walton is the 6th most famous Canadian Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Brian Clifford Walton (born December 18, 1965) is a Canadian cycling coach and former professional road and track cyclist. His racing career spanned 18 years, racing professionally for North American pro teams 7-Eleven, Motorola, and Saturn. He represented Canada at the Pan American Games, Commonwealth Games, and the Olympic Games in 1988, 1996 and 2000. He won a silver medal in the points race at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Walton was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. Walton is a former partner at Cadence Performance Cycling Center in Philadelphia. He now is the president of Walton Endurance.

7. Michael Barry (b. 1975)

With an HPI of 40.46, Michael Barry is the 7th most famous Canadian Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Michael Barry (born 18 December 1975) is a Canadian author and former professional road racing cyclist. Barry raced for numerous world-class teams with the role of 'domestique'. His greatest personal successes were placing eighth in the 2008 Beijing Olympics' road race, finishing second in the Canadian National Road Race Championships in 2001 and 2012, and winning a stage of the Tour of Missouri in 2008. He announced his retirement in September 2012, stating that the 2012 Tour of Beijing would be his last race. He is also an author who has written three books.

8. Svein Tuft (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 39.75, Svein Tuft is the 8th most famous Canadian Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Svein Tuft (born May 9, 1977) is a Canadian former road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2019 for the Symmetrics, Garmin–Transitions, SpiderTech–C10, Mitchelton–Scott and Rally UHC Cycling teams. Tuft was the winner of the 2006–07 UCI America Tour, and was a thirteen-time champion at the Canadian road cycling championships: twice in the road race, and eleven times in the time trial.

9. Derek Gee (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 38.69, Derek Gee is the 9th most famous Canadian Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 14 different languages.

Derek Gee-West (né Gee; born 3 August 1997 in Ottawa, Ontario) is a Canadian racing cyclist, who last rode for UCI ProTeam Israel–Premier Tech. Gee announced his decision to break with the team in August 2025.

10. Tara Whitten (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 38.66, Tara Whitten is the 10th most famous Canadian Cyclist.  Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Tara Alice Whitten (born 13 July 1980) is a Canadian former racing cyclist.