Louis Garneau

Louis Garneau (born August 9, 1958, in Sainte-Foy, Quebec, Canada) is a retired competitive cyclist, artist, and businessman of French-Canadian descent.

In 1978, Garneau was the Canadian champion in individual pursuit cycling. In 1983, he founded Louis Garneau Sports, which sells cycling clothing and accessories.

Early years Garneau was born in Sainte-Foy, Quebec on August 9, 1958, the son of Paul Garneau and Jeannine Lehoux. He obtained his bachelor's degree in visual arts from Laval University and won an excellence scholarship there in 1983.

Cycling team Louis Garneau operated a cycling development team for several years, in order to help young talented cyclists reach their full potential and allow them to pass into the ranks of professional cyclists. Some big name Quebec cyclists who went through this development team are: David Veilleux (first Quebec cyclist to participate in the Tour de France within the professional continental team Europcar), Antoine Duchesne (who joined Europcar in 2014 and is now part of Groupama FDJ), Hugo Houle (a member of the UCI World Tour AG2R La Mondiale team from 2013 and now with Astana-Premier Tech), as well as Canadian Michael Woods (who will start his 2021 season within the UCI World Tour Israel Start-Up Nation cycling team.)

Through conferences and cycling events, Louis Garneau is socially involved with the organization Les Petits Frères, whose committed to relieving isolation and loneliness among the elderly.

On December 22, 2018, Garneau launched the international "Don't Text and Drive" day, in memory of his cycling friend Jason Lowndes, who died on his bike during a training session in Australia, by a distracted driver, on December 22, 2017.

Top honours as a cyclist 1975 First place at Canadian Junior Team Championship 1976 Provincial Junior Champion 1977 Track Cycling Canada Championships | Team Pursuit Canada Championship 1978 Track Cycling Canada Championships | Canadian Champion in Individual Pursuit Quebec Team Pursuit Championship 1979 Canadian Road Cycling Championships | Canadian Time Trial Champion Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal Marc Blouin Grand Prix Grand Prix de Sutton Critérium de Verdun 1980 Maine International Bicycle Race Vancouver Criterium Canada Week Grand Prix 1981 Grand Prix de Lévis Tour de la Gaspésie Grand Prix cycliste de Beauport Sherbrooke Award Canada Week Awards Price Italian Super Prestige Grand Prix Terre des Hommes Critérium de Contrecœur 1982 Canada Week Awards Provincial Road Championship 1983 Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Ocean Gate Tower Hartford Criterium Lebanon Grand Prix

He competed in the individual road race event at the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Honours 1990 – Raymond-Blais Medal 1997 – Chevalier de l'Ordre national du Québec 1999 – Officer of the Order of Canada 2007 – Honorary Doctorate from the University of Ottawa 2012 – Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Medal 2014 – Recipient of the Medal of Honour of the Quebec National Assembly 2015 – Recipient of one of 50 Canadian flags awarded by the Prime Minister to 50 deserving Canadians on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Maple Leaf