It did seem an unsatisfying way to wrap things up. After all, Michael Woods has been Canada\u2019s star rider of the men\u2019s peloton for the past 10 years. Known as the middle-distance-runner-turned-rider, Woods\u2019s true breakout year was 2018, in which he was second at Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge, won a stage of the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a and came third at the world championships in Innsbruck, Austria. In 2023, his climbing prowess was on full display when he won a Tour de France stage up the Puy de D\u00f4me.<\/p>\n \u201c[That win was] satisfying. Actually, in many ways, big relief. When I first started cycling, I thought that [winning a Tour stage] was kind of an outlandish goal,\u201d Woods said on a 2023 episode of the CCM pod<\/a>. \u201cI really didn\u2019t think that was possible. Back in 2015, the goal was to be a good domestique at the WorldTour level, just because I didn\u2019t know what I was capable of. Also I had a very limited runway and wasn\u2019t sure if I would be able to explore my abilities to their fullest just because I was older. I was lucky to make it onto a team that did believe in me with EF. Then I was super lucky to find my way onto [Israel-Premier Tech], reunited with [principle team backer] Sylvan [Adams] and [coach] Paulo [Saldanha,] two people who were in my corner even back in 2015.<\/p>\n \u201cThen early in my WorldTour career, I recalibrated those goals. One of those was to win a stage at the Tour. For years after, I was always talking about a stage win of the Tour. And every year that passed, not having accomplished that, I started to feel more pressure towards achieving that goal. To finally do it, in the latter stages of my career, was a moment of joy, but also of relief. I just felt relief when I finished that stage.\u201d<\/p>\n As important as that Tour de France stage win was, Woods said after the elite men\u2019s world championship road race in Montreal that his third-place at worlds in 2018 was possibly the best race of his career. He also mentioned that that day\u2019s competition was much harder than the race in 2018.<\/p>\n Not long after the riders rolled out of Brossard, Woods\u2019s teammate Guillaume Boivin, who is also retiring, got into the day\u2019s breakaway. After more than 100 km south of the St. Lawrence River, the break and the bunch came into the city circuit, featuring classics such as the climbs up Camillien-Houde and C\u00f4te de la Polytechnique. Woods wasn\u2019t with the front bunch as it came to the loop. That was a tactical error as he found it impossible to move up after that. He finished the race in 35th place.<\/p>\n![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/26WorldsLeonardWoods.jpg\")
<\/a>Michael Leonard (left) and Michael Woods, elite men\u2019s world championships road race, Montreal 2026. Image: Nick Iwanyshyn<\/p>\n