Yesjesdal! The Weight of a Nation, Ryde of a Lifetime... Whatever you want to call it, this is Ryder Hesjedal's time to shine. Canada's only Tour de France participant has proven to the world that he is a Grand Tour contender. But, those of us who have known him for the past several years have known this all along. I was not happy to see Ryder's fellow teammate and team leader Christian Vande Velde withdraw from the Tour de France after crashing and breaking several bones in stage 2, but I immediately knew that Ryder would be unleashed to show what he is capable of. Since the cobble stone riddled stage 3 where Ryder put his off-roading skills to work he has been playing in the top 10 overall placings.
Yesterday, the racers finished at the top of the Col du Tourmalet, the final climb of the Pyrenees and the 2010 Tour. The summit finish tops out at 6939 feet with a 10% grade. It was the stage everyone was watching because of the drama and 8 seconds between Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador and would most likely decide who would be wearing the yellow jersey into Paris. The climb was shrouded in dense fog with visibility reduced to 40 feet at times and it was hard to see who was where. No surprise that Schleck and Contador would finish together in 1st and 2nd place, but Ryder had been with the following group a couple minutes back. When the camera went back to show the follow group, Ryder was not there. I was thinking that Ryder had fought as hard as he could and was now lagging off the back. Who could have blamed him, he had been riding so hard for nearly 3 weeks. But, as the camera view went back to finish line to show the 3rd place finish I was stunned to see Ryder coming right behind in 4th! He hadn't fallen off the back, he was attacking again.
Ryder now sits at 8th overall! The time trial is next and who knows what the former Canadian Time Trial Champion will do. He's got 2 minutes 15 seconds to move into 7th place. That's a lot of time to make up, but if anyone can do it this year Ryder has proven it is him.
It's been a blast following Ryder's career for the past 4 years and I think he's going to keep it exciting for many more.
I met Ryder several years ago when he was working with my office partner and he needed new orthotics for his cycling shoes. He has been using them ever since.
