Hesjedal climbs to 8th on GC – Tour de France, stage 17

Ryder Hesjedal defied many expectations on the climb to the Tourmalet for the finish of stage 17, attacking out of his group to take fourth on the stage and move up to eighth on the general classification.

Ryder Hesjedal - Tour de France, stage 17

“It’s unreal,” he said after the stage. “I knew I had good legs on the rest day and wanted to do a good showing today. Job done!”

When asked what went through his mind as the final attack went, he replied that he resisted the urge to try to follow and instead ride his own race.

“Those guys went and everyone wants to follow but I was just content to be around guys that were close to me. I stayed in the group there and felt good in the last part and gave it everything.”

“I feel like I’m getting stronger so a few more days and we’ll be happy in Paris!”

Ryder Hesjedal - Tour de France, stage 17

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This entry was posted on Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 at 2:56 pm and is filed under Garmin, Garmin Web Site, Grand Tours, Race Reports, Slipstream, Transitions and tagged with , , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

  • Pat

    Go Ryder Go….

  • Richard

    Fantastic 4th & best of luck for the TT! You’re now in great company with Steve Bauer to finish in the top ten. Cheering for you from Vancouver!

  • Edschum

    Congratulations Ryder! Christian’s unfortune gave you the opportunity to ride for GC and you exceeded all expectations, quite likely even your own. It has been interesting and fun to watch you progress over the last 15 years. You are now so very close to the very top in the world of road racing, and you have remained the same friendly young kid while getting there. Good luck for the rest of the season and the rest of your carreer.
    Ed Schum,
    Comox Valley

  • Brian Buday

    Congratulations on a superlative stage Ryder. When Phil and Paul were speculating that you were in the next group back and suddenly you pop out of the clouds into the finish: it was magical. Great stuff!! Especially since it has been so long since Steve Bauer’s heyday. Bon chance for the remaining stages.

    Brian Buday
    West Vancouver

  • d.

    Congrats, Ryder. You’ve got this Canadian rediscovering his love for the tour. Much respect to you on that climb. Kick some ass in the time trial and then enjoy the stroll to Paris.

    d.

  • Eric

    Superb ride to 4th place. There’s a good chance that Ryder can move up some more on the GC given the fact that Rodriguez and Gesink arent that good at TT’s

  • cassis

    no tv in the northern ontario bush – just my blackberry – following every race. Go Ryder!

  • Brant

    I love watching Ryder kick butt! I have waited 20 years for the next Canadian cyclist to be a contender and here he is. You really should feature him more prominently on the team page, especially since he is doing better than anyone on Garmin expected or could have hoped for. He is the next team leader!

  • Kris from Calgary

    Absolutely amazing work today Ryder. Canada is extremly proud of your performance.

  • Pat

    Go Ryder Go….

  • Richard

    Fantastic 4th & best of luck for the TT! You're now in great company with Steve Bauer to finish in the top ten. Cheering for you from Vancouver!

  • Edschum

    Congratulations Ryder! Christian's unfortune gave you the opportunity to ride for GC and you exceeded all expectations, quite likely even your own. It has been interesting and fun to watch you progress over the last 15 years. You are now so very close to the very top in the world of road racing, and you have remained the same friendly young kid while getting there. Good luck for the rest of the season and the rest of your carreer.
    Ed Schum,
    Comox Valley

  • Brian Buday

    Congratulations on a superlative stage Ryder. When Phil and Paul were speculating that you were in the next group back and suddenly you pop out of the clouds into the finish: it was magical. Great stuff!! Especially since it has been so long since Steve Bauer's heyday. Bon chance for the remaining stages.

    Brian Buday
    West Vancouver

  • d.

    Congrats, Ryder. You've got this Canadian rediscovering his love for the tour. Much respect to you on that climb. Kick some ass in the time trial and then enjoy the stroll to Paris.

    d.

  • Dale S.

    ex·cep·tion·al (adjective)From the U.S.thesaurus: outstanding, excellent, brilliant, special, extraordinary, incomparable. I couldn’t decide which of these words described your ride on Stage 17 the best so I thought let’s use them all.

    What a day – riding through the mist to the top of the Tourmalet on the 100th anniversary of the TdF and coming in 4th – Wow! and 8th overall – Yes!

    I think that the song that best describes the last few days of the TdF for you is Matthew Wilder’s – Break My Stride and I hope that the song that best describes the last few stages is BTO’s – You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.

    Go Ryder Go – all the best from Port Alberni, BC

  • Eric

    Superb ride to 4th place. There's a good chance that Ryder can move up some more on the GC given the fact that Rodriguez and Gesink arent that good at TT's

  • cassis

    no tv in the northern ontario bush – just my blackberry – following every race. Go Ryder!

  • Brant

    I love watching Ryder kick butt! I have waited 20 years for the next Canadian cyclist to be a contender and here he is. You really should feature him more prominently on the team page, especially since he is doing better than anyone on Garmin expected or could have hoped for. He is the next team leader!

  • Kris from Calgary

    Absolutely amazing work today Ryder. Canada is extremly proud of your performance.

  • Mondap

    Very well done , very nice to see a CANADIAN with the top gun in the TDF.
    Best of luck for the rst of the TDf

  • Dale S.

    ex·cep·tion·al (adjective)From the U.S.thesaurus: outstanding, excellent, brilliant, special, extraordinary, incomparable. I couldn't decide which of these words described your ride on Stage 17 the best so I thought let's use them all.

    What a day – riding through the mist to the top of the Tourmalet on the 100th anniversary of the TdF and coming in 4th – Wow! and 8th overall – Yes!

    I think that the song that best describes the last few days of the TdF for you is Matthew Wilder's – Break My Stride and I hope that the song that best describes the last few stages is BTO's – You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet.

    Go Ryder Go – all the best from Port Alberni, BC

  • Jgrantis

    Making us Canadian cyclist proud. Thanks for showing up and giving your best like a true Canadian.

  • Sylvie

    Bravo! What a great ride for you on this difficult course! We enjoyed watching you get out of the fog and arrived fourth . You are amoung the best! Lâche pas!

    Sylvie

  • Mondap

    Very well done , very nice to see a CANADIAN with the top gun in the TDF.
    Best of luck for the rst of the TDf

  • Jgrantis

    Making us Canadian cyclist proud. Thanks for showing up and giving your best like a true Canadian.

  • Titi PQ

    What makes it even more special is that Ryder’s performance overall was totally unexpected 3 weeks ago. Top 50, maybe top 40 like last couple years. But 8th !! Unbelievable. We knew he would take over once VDV went down, but this is beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.

  • Sylvie

    Bravo! What a great ride for you on this difficult course! We enjoyed watching you get out of the fog and arrived fourth . You are amoung the best! Lâche pas!

    Sylvie

  • Titi PQ

    What makes it even more special is that Ryder's performance overall was totally unexpected 3 weeks ago. Top 50, maybe top 40 like last couple years. But 8th !! Unbelievable. We knew he would take over once VDV went down, but this is beyond anyone's wildest dreams.

  • Mike Klein

    Ryder! Doing great! I was at Trek Pro City at 430am yeaterday with Bill and the rest, chearing you on! What was up with the sheep?? In the last Km of the TV coverage we lost you and then you came around the corner for 4th. We went crazy! Looking forward to seeing you rock the TT.

    Keep going and I look forward to seeing you at the store soon.

    Go Ryder Go!

    Mike Klein
    Victoria BC

  • Mike Klein

    Ryder! Doing great! I was at Trek Pro City at 430am yeaterday with Bill and the rest, chearing you on! What was up with the sheep?? In the last Km of the TV coverage we lost you and then you came around the corner for 4th. We went crazy! Looking forward to seeing you rock the TT.

    Keep going and I look forward to seeing you at the store soon.

    Go Ryder Go!

    Mike Klein
    Victoria BC

  • Tje1

    Your Grandfather whould be so very proud of you!!!

  • Tje1

    Your Grandfather whould be so very proud of you!!!