Canadian team to the Tour de France?

Probably not for a few more years, but this article in the
Province details how the BC-based Symmetrics cycling team is aiming for the Tour within five years.

"No, we're not ready yet," said Cunningham, who thinks it could be done within five years. "We still have a ways to go, not only from an infrastructure perspective and a sponsorship perspective, but we need the cash. We need more team management and we need to add a few riders. There are other strong Canadian riders and we've talked to them, but it comes down to budget."
Symmetrics started with a $30,000 budget. Last year that budget grew to $800,000 and next year it will be $1 million. By comparison, top teams have budgets in the $15-million range.
Cunningham thinks it would take an annual budge of $5 million to $7 million to get a team into the Tour de France.
He said potential sponsors are intrigued by the idea of an all-Canadian team in the Tour, even though doping scandals have plagued the event in recent years.
"The doping issue is a major issue," Cunningham said. "When you walk into a boardroom full of executives, the first thing they start to talk about is Floyd Landis.
"But we have a very clear mandate. We're truly anti-drug. Kevin and I made an agreement amongst ourselves that if there's any hint of doping, we'd shut the team down and give all the money back to the sponsors. We'd shut it down, and the riders know that."

If they manage this, then it would be a big step from the last few years that I've been following pro cycling, in which there have been no Canadian riders in the Tour de France - we were really hoping to see Mike Barry (T-Mobile) there this summer, but then he came down with pneumonia a month or so before.