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Skipping Giro was right call for Hesjedal

by Andrew Hood

• July 05, 2009
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By Andrew Hood

Ryder Hesjedal on Sunday.

Photo: Andrew Hood

The road back to his second Tour de France was different for Ryder Hesjedal this year.

While most of his Tour-bound teammates followed the successful blueprint from 2008 and raced the Giro d’Italia in May, Garmin-Slipstream brass put the brakes on the tall Canadian and told him to rest instead of race.

“Not racing the Giro was definitely the right call. I feel like I’ve improved since I took a break and I am coming into the Tour in my best level ever,” Hesjedal told VeloNews. “I came out of the Tour de Suisse in good condition and I am getting better every day. I’m going to be in top shape and be there when the team needs me.”

The ever-competitive ex-mountain biker was initially upset with the decision to leave him out of the Giro, but he quickly realized it was the best thing that could have happened.

After an intense spring campaign that started with the Tour Down Under and continued straight through the Ardennes classics, recovery was just what he needed.

Hesjedal had a heavy spring in his second season with Garmin-Slipstream, logging nearly 30 days of racing by April. Highlights included 11th at the Tour Down Under, 10th at Monte Paschi Eroica, 8th at Tirreno-Adriatico before capping his spring classics campaign with 11th at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

That’s when team brass told Hesjedal to go home, recover and prepare for the Tour.

He eased back into competition with the Tour de Suisse, where the ever-steady Hesjedal rode to 18th as part of his preparation for the Tour.

“I am definitely fresher for this year’s Tour,” he said. “I’m at a stronger level than last year’s Tour.”

Hesjedal will pick up where he left off last year, when he played a key role helping team captain Christian Vande Velde in the mountains. He was critical to helping Vande Velde in the Alps and helped secure a top-5 overall.

“Christian is right on track and I want to be one of those guys who help him in the GC,” he said. “I’ve carried my momentum out of last year’s Tour, then the Olympics, and things started off well in ’09. I’m still improving and gaining the experience I had from my first Tour.”

Hesjedal said he will do all he can to help the team reach another one of its top goals of winning a stage during this year’s Tour.

“We’re going to race aggressively. We’ll see how the GC sorts itself out and we will support Christian. We also have Tyler for the sprinters, so we have a lot of options,” he said. “We’re going to be competitive in all aspects of the race, in the sprints, the time trials and the GC.”

Once again, Hesjedal is the lone Canadian in the Tour after compatriots Svein Tuft and Michael Barry missed out on a spot on their respective teams.