Canadian amateur cyclist breaks champions’ records | Did you see?

Unknown to the general public until a few weeks ago, a Canadian amateur cyclist is now being talked about throughout Europe. After improving the record times of world tour champions on the Strava application, Jack Burke hopes to convince a professional team to give him a chance.

At first glance, the story looks like a Cinderella tale revamped with the very modern flavor of mobile applications, such as Strava, where professional and amateur athletes share their performances tracked by GPS.

A 29-year-old aspiring cyclist who rides in his spare time gets so good that he achieves the fastest climbs ever recorded on several major European passes, breaking records previously held by Vincenzo Nibali, Sepp Kuss and Jai Hindley.

After crossing the approximately 38.75 kilometers and 1597 meters of altitude of the Mortirolo pass, in Italy, he decided to challenge the teams on the world circuit. Anyone, anywhere, anytime. I will do anything you want to have my chance against the besthe wrote while publishing his record time on the Strava application.

This is the incredible story of the last weeks of the life of Jack Burke who has since received phone calls from several major professional groups. Except that the Toronto native was nothing like a young leader on his bike.

His story is rather that of a high-level athlete whose tortuous career was to have ended after a serious accident in 2022.

A career derailed by a positive test

Once one of the best junior cyclists in Canada, Jack Burke saw his promising career derailed at just 18 years old, after winning the third stage of the Tour de l’Abitibi in 2013.

Declared positive for hydrochlorothiazide following his victory, the Torontonian spent the following year and a half defending himself legally before finally winning his case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The water in the municipality of Malartic, where he had filled several water bottles, was ultimately judged responsible for the low level of hydrochlorothiazide in his blood, a blood pressure medication also used as a doping agent.

I went from being the best junior in the country to a cyclist that no team wanted to give a chance to for three years.

I was getting all kinds of hate mail and horrible messagesrecounts Jack Burke about the incident that changed his life

Even once whitened by THATthe young athlete has long kept the label of a cheater. It was the era of Lance Armstrong’s confessions, he recalls, when no cyclist was given the benefit of the doubt.

Retired after a serious accident

When a team finally gave me a chance to return to competition, it took me another three years to return to the top of the North American circuitexplains Burke, who won the famous Mont Mégantic stage at the Tour de Beauce at that time.

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Having left for Europe in 2019 in the hope of making his way to the world circuit, he then bounced from one small continental team to another, struggling to pay his bills.

You land in teams that pay you 500 or 600 euros per month. I literally lived in a barn and came back to work construction in Canada for three months during the offseasonrelates the one who saw the COVID-19 pandemic short-circuit his 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Then, towards the end of 2022, the Ontarian was riding alone in training when a car hit him, leaving him unconscious with very serious injuries. I realized that my team had canceled my medical insurance earlier than expected without notifying me. This is essentially what ended my cycling career.

From ski mountaineering to a return to cycling

Jack Burke, whose life had always revolved around cycling, came out of this serious accident surprisingly well. During the 18 months spent getting back on his feet and paying his hospital bills, the newly retired published a book, How To Become A Pro Cyclistthen he started a podcast of the same name.

I was at peace with the end of my cycling careertells the story of the man who took up ski mountaineering, a new Olympic discipline at the 2026 Winter Games, in the hope of representing Canada.

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Except that, last spring, a cycling coach who passed through his podcast offered to coach Burke. What followed was a part-time return to training and victories in several major amateur races in Europe.

The king of KOM

Jack Burke had just suffered a failure in an amateur competition, the Zwift Academy, when he decided to tackle the Stelvio Pass, in Italy, on October 15. This is what we call in the jargon a KOM (King of Mountain). A climbing segment in the middle of a race where athletes can score points by reaching the summit first.

Burke attacked the climb with fresh legs, a significant advantage, but he managed to beat Australian Jai Hindley’s record time, set during a stage of the Giro d’Italia in 2020.

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On November 11, the Torontonian made the same move at the Alpe d’Huez KOM of a stage of the Tour de France, improving the mark of the winner of the last Vuelta, Sepp Kuss. Same thing in Mortirolo, back in Italy, on November 16, where the record time recorded on Strava belonged to ex-Tour de France champion Vincenzo Nibali.

A chance on the world circuit?

It was enough to ignite Internet users and for Jack Burke’s exploits to go around the world. I’m obviously not saying I’m better than these guys. I’m just trying to get to their level and you can’t just sign up for the world tourspecifies the main person concerned.

Contacted by several World Tour teams who asked for his detailed training data, Jack Burke estimates his chances of obtaining, against all odds, his first chance at this level at 30%. Everything will be decided in the coming weeks.

At this time of the year, the majority of teams are already sold outrelates the one who claims to have never had so much fun riding.

The Tour de France and the Olympic Games remain a big dream, but if I don’t achieve it, I won’t feel like a loser. I now have something else in my life besides cycling.