There was not only one winner during the stage snatched by Hugo Houle in the tears and the heat wave of the Tour de France. Its sponsor, the Quebec company Premier Tech, can also open the champagne.

• To read also: "I found my normal little daily life" - Houle

• Read also: Tour de France: a first historic victory for Quebec

• To read also: Tour de France: the parents of Hugo Houle moved

• To read also: Victory of Hugo Houle at the Tour de France: the pride of Sainte-Perpétue

"It's really exciting what is happening to us," admits the boss, Jean Bélanger, in an interview with Le Journal.

In the last few hours, the name of the Rivière-du-Loup multinational, clearly visible on the runner's jersey, has appeared everywhere in search engines.

Beef success on the web

“The number of visits to our web pages, Facebook, Instagram, all our social media, it exploded. It's a slope as steep as the one Hugo climbed yesterday to seek victory, "jokes the leader who will be in Paris to welcome Houle at the finish of the Grande Boucle.

The impact, however, is difficult to calculate. Will the agricultural and horticultural products company seek more contracts? Time will tell, but when it comes to visibility, Premier Tech is filling up.

“The Tour de France is presented in more than 130 countries. There are at least 30 countries broadcasting it live. From 4-5-6 hours live on TV, it's really huge in terms of visibility. »

Good investment

Without wanting to reveal the amount of the sponsorship, Mr. Bélanger is certain that the game is worth the candle.

"It's a substantial amount. When you compare that to advertising on hockey boards or on the wall of a baseball game, you have a good return on investment,” he believes.

immediate friendship

But for Premier Tech, cycling is an affair of the heart. A sponsorship of passion.

The company has been investing in the development of cyclists in Quebec for 27 years, then, quietly, the company joined the grand tour and the world elite.

"When I speak to my people, I say to them: we will make one thing clear, I love cycling, it does not affect our sponsorship, but if I was a fan of Nascar, we would not sponsor this sport , because it does not match our values ​​and what we want to convey as a message. But here, the opportunity is the thief,” says Mr. Bélanger.

Same thing for the association with Hugo Houle, which flows naturally, admits the leader.

"We both had an instant friendship. He comes home regularly. For the next few days, I'll be on vacation and Hugo will be joining us with the kids, we'll be riding for 4-5 days. We have a lot of respect for each other,” Bélanger said.

The two men met when Premier Tech was funding Astana training. After a somewhat stormy separation with the Kazakhstan team, Houle remained in the fold of Premier Tech, which joined forces with Israel Start-up Nation, owned by Montreal billionaire Sylvan Adams (see other text below).

"We chose cycling because it's an international sport, we wanted to find a sport that rallies everyone, free and democratic, a family sport that you can practice with friends," he concludes.

Don't be fooled by the name of Hugo Houle's team, Israel-Premier Tech: this is primarily a Quebec and Canadian affair.

"We have all the major Canadian players, whether it's staff or riders. We have five of the six Canadian riders, a sports director from here [former rider Steve Bauer], a performance director, a chief mechanic. It really is a Canadian team,” said team co-owner Jean Bélanger in an interview with Le Journal.

Cycling enthusiast

The latter, who directs the destiny of the Quebec multinational Premier Tech, joined forces with another Quebecer, billionaire Sylvan Adams, a cycling enthusiast, who then led the Israel Start-up Nation team.

“Sylvan chose to put the name Israel as he wants to promote cycling there and in the Middle East. He also has dual Canadian and Israeli citizenship,” says Bélanger.

Sylvan Adams is the son of Marcel Adams, the real estate magnate who built the first shopping center in Quebec, La Canardière. Then, a few years later, it was he who built the Galeries de la Capitale.

Marcel Adams passed away in 2020 at the ripe old age of 100. He had led a discreet life despite his presence in the list of Forbes billionaires, recalled Le Journal two years ago.

great philanthropist

Sylvan Adams was the successor of his father at the head of the family business, Développements Iberville. However, he ran into trouble with the tax authorities. For five years he has lived in Israel.

Last June, Adams, who is also recognized as a philanthropist, had donated $ 2 million for the succession of the Graduate School of International Studies at Laval University.