He’s a Ryder on the storm. And it’s been almost torrential of late.
Thought to be road kill in the earlier stages of the race, Ryder Hesjedal of Victoria has gate-crashed the top-10 of the Giro d’Italia standings, surging 10 spots since the weekend.
The 2012 champion is now in position to think of attacking for a second career Giro title.
The Islander riding for Cannondale-Garmin was sixth Tuesday in the 16th stage, which featured five major-category climbs, including the epic Passo del Mortirolo.
“The way he rode today shows the kind of rider that Ryder is,” said Cannondale-Garmin race director Charly Wegelius, in a statement.
“He doesn’t crack very easily at all. He can ride at the limit for the whole day. It was an amazing performance to go on like that. Most of the people he was with had a much easier ride in the earlier part of the day. The last week of the Giro still has a lot more to give. Things are looking good.”
Despite his considerable skills as a climber, it was on a descent Tuesday they call Aprica that Hesjedal broke away from the peloton with about 80 kilometres remaining in the 174-kilometre stage.
“We knew the last four kilometres of that descent were very technical,” said Wegelius.
“We also knew with the rain, the peloton would split behind. Ryder realized that he needed to do something . . . and he took his moment.”
Hesjedal was overtaken up the Mortirolo by five riders and finished two minutes and 10 seconds behind stage winner and Spaniard Mikel Landa of Astanta. Yet, nothing could take away from Hesjedal’s achievement on the day, and his recent rebound into 10th place in the overall standings, 12:49 behind leader Alberto Contador of Astanta.
But comebacks are nothing new for Hesjedal in the Giro. He finished ninth last year after rallying from a frightening first-stage crash.
The 21-stage, 98th Giro concludes Sunday in Milan after 3,482 kilometres.
Hesjedal predicted before the race Garmin would “continue our strong legacy with the race” and is living up to it.
The first Canadian to win a Grand Tour cycling event when he captured the 2012 Giro, and fifth in the 2010 Tour de France, Hesjedal admitted in 2013 he wasn’t immune to the widespread practice in professional cycling in the past of using performance-enhancing methods, saying he “chose the wrong path.”
The last two years have been about changing the narrative, which the Colwood-raised, three-time Olympian continues to do.
The 34-year-old Islander capped the 2014 season by winning the 14th stage of the Vuelta a Espana, the third event of cycling’s Grand Tour after the Giro and Tour de France.
This year’s annual hometown mass participation Ryder Hesjedal’s Tour de Victoria is scheduled for Aug. 23.
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