Bauer joined the Canadian national cycling team in 1977, competing in team pursuit. He would remain on the national team for seven years, winning the national road race championship in 1981, 1982, and 1983, competing in the
Commonwealth Games (1978, 1982), the
Pan American Games (1979). He capped his amateur career with a
silver medal in the
men's cycling road race at the
1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. This was the first medal in road cycling for Canada at the Olympics. Bauer turned professional following the Olympics, and in his second professional race, won the bronze medal at the
world cycling championship road race in
Barcelona. Between 1985 and 1995, he competed in 11
Tours de France. He began his professional career in 1985 on the
La Vie Claire team of
Bernard Hinault and
Greg LeMond, where he stayed until leaving for
Weinmann–La Suisse–SMM Uster Helvetia in 1988. Bauer finished fourth in the
1988 Tour, winning the first stage and wearing the
yellow jersey for five days, the second Canadian to wear the jersey. The first was
Alex Stieda in 1986, who was also the first North American to wear the yellow jersey. At the 1988 world championship, Bauer disputed the final sprint with Belgium's
Claude Criquielion, world champion in 1984, and Italy's Maurizio Fondriest. As Criquielion tried to pass against the barriers, Bauer sent him crashing into the barriers. Meanwhile, Fondriest passed and won the race. Bauer was immediately disqualified, even if once Criquielion sued Bauer for assault and battery, the municipal court of Oudenaarde ruled in Bauer's favour. The ruling was upheld in both the Appeal Court and the Supreme court, at which stage Criquielion was fined for bringing the case a third time in a process that lasted for more than five years. In 1989 Bauer won the
Züri-Metzgete. In 1990, he took second place in
Paris–Roubaix to Belgian
Eddy Planckaert. The finish was so close that the officials had to study the photo-finish for more than ten minutes before Planckaert was finally declared the winner. After 266 kilometers of racing, Planckaert had just edged Bauer by less than a centimeter, making it the closest finish of the race's history. Riding for 7-Eleven, Bauer wore the Yellow Jersey following stages one to nine at the
1990 Tour de France, before ultimately finishing 27th. He had been part of a stage one breakaway alongside
Claudio Chiappucci,
Ronan Pensec and
Frans Maassen which gained a 10-minute time advantage at the head of the general standings. In subsequent stages, Bauer, Pensec and Chiappucci all wore yellow with defending champion Greg LeMond only gaining the lead of the race after stage 20, the final time trial. In 1996, with professionals allowed in the Olympics, Bauer became a member of the Canadian team for the
1996 Summer Olympics, finishing 41st in the road race. He announced his retirement later that year at 37. The following year, he co-founded Steve Bauer Bike Tours. In 2005 Steve was inducted to the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame and the Canadian Sport Hall of Fame. Bauer also participated in the
Red Bull Road Rage held on Tuna Canyon, Malibu, California. In 2013, Bauer raced in the Canadian Cycling Championships in the Men's 50–59 road race and finished fourth. In 2015, Bauer raced in the Canadian Track Championships in the Men's 50–59 and finished 1st in the Scratch race, 1st in the Individual Pursuit and 2nd in the Points Race.
Team management In September 2007, Bauer co-founded Cycle Sport Management which developed and owned a UCI Continental men road cycling team from 2008 to 2010 and a UCI Pro Continental men road cycling team in 2011 and 2012. Bauer was the co-owner and head
directeur sportif of the team, which raced under a UCI Continental licence as in 2008, in 2009 and in 2010, before it stepped up to UCI Professional Continental status for 2011 and 2012 under the name . In 2021 he joined
Israel–Premier Tech as a sporting director. ==Career achievements==