Athletics career Woods' first sport was
ice hockey and his childhood ambition was to play as a
left wing for the
Toronto Maple Leafs. Prior to becoming a cyclist, Woods was a promising middle-distance runner, setting Canadian national junior records in the
mile and
3000 metres in 2005, as well as taking the gold medal in the 1500 metres at the
2005 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships. However, he suffered a recurring
stress fracture in his left foot, exacerbated by excessive training and racing, resulting in his running his last race in 2007. Woods underwent surgery twice in order to correct the problem without success. He took up cycling initially as
cross-training before friends persuaded him to enter races. Indoor Track Legend = * Not legal.
Cycling career Woods began cycling professionally with in 2013. On 20 August 2015 it was announced that Woods would join for the 2016 cycling season. In 2016, Woods was officially named in
Canada's 2016 Olympic team. Woods was also named in the start list for the
2017 Giro d'Italia. He finished the 2017 Giro, his first grand tour, in 38th place, taking two fifth-place stage finishes along the way and helping teammate
Pierre Rolland to win a stage. Woods was later named in the start list for the
2017 Vuelta a España where he finished his second Grand Tour in 7th place, taking one third-place finish and five top-tens. In 2018, Woods scored what he described as "the best result of my career" by finishing second in the
Liège–Bastogne–Liège race. In September 2018, Woods won Stage 17 of the
Vuelta a España, which finished up a steep climb to
Balcón de Bizkaia. On 30 September, Woods finished third in the
road race at the
UCI Road World Championships in Innsbruck, Austria. It was the first medal for Canada at the World Championships since
Svein Tuft's silver medal in the
time trial in 2008, and their first medal in the road race since
Steve Bauer's bronze-medal performance in
1984. In July 2019, he was named in the startlist for the
2019 Tour de France. In October 2019 he won the oldest classic race, the 100th edition of
Milano–Torino. In August 2020, it was announced that Woods was to join from the 2021 season, on a three-year contract. In 2025, Woods announced that he would retire at the end of the season. ==Major results==