Team Garmin-Barracuda » Ryder Hesjedal

Photo of the Day: July 24, 2011

Bryan — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 04:34:55 +0000

Ryder Hesjedal leads the bunch, 2011 Tour de France

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Wallpaper: Thor Hushovd Wins Stage 16, 2011 Tour de France

Bryan — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:51:08 +0000

With Ryder Hesjedal celebrating in the background, Thor Hushovd outsprints Boasson Hagen for the win on stage 16 of the 2011 Tour!

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Stage Preview: Tour de France, Week 2

Bryan — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 10:11:00 +0000

As the Tour moves on to the second week of racing, we have to say…WOW, what an amazing first week for team Garmin-Cervelo. At the time we write this, the team won stage 2′s team time trial, Tyler Farrar won stage 3, and Thor Hushovd has defended the yellow jersey through stage 6. Congratulations is in order for all the riders and staff, it’s been a fun week to be a Garmin-Cervelo staff member and fan!

This image pretty much sums up the first week as far as we’re concerned:

Beginning with stage 8, the Tour moves into difficult terrain which should favor the overall GC contenders. Stage 8 finishes in Super-Bresse after a tiered 900 foot climb starting at around 6.5k to go. The finish climb could favor punchy climbers with explosive power, but we’ll be looking to David Millar, Vande Velde, Danielson, and Hesjedal to show their climbing form prior to the high mountains.

Stage 9 looks to be a very tough day of racing prior to the first rest day on Monday, July 11th. With 8 categorized climbs, including the third category finishing climb, stage 9 looks like a day for a big breakaway of stage win hopefuls polka dot jersey contenders.

On paper, Stages 10 and 11 look very similar to Stage 9, but both stages have fewer categorized climbs that could favor the sprinters as their chances for stage wins quickly dwindle.

Stages 12 and 13 finally take the Tour into the high mountains of the Pyrennes for what will be the first two major GC battles of the Tour. Stage 12 finishes on the HC climb to Luz Ardiden, but also crosses the mighty Tourmalet which was featured twice in the 2010 Tour de France. We’re hoping Ryder Hesjedal has good memories of the Tourmalet and will hold his position as a GC contender after stage 12.

Stage 13 features the massive hors category climb Col d’Aubisque, but is otherwise not a mountainous stage. After stage 12′s super tough terrain, stage 13 should be another day for a breakaway, likely including a rider looking to gain points in the competition for the polka dot climbers jersey.

After a very tough first week of racing, the second week of the Tour could produce some surprises and shake up the overall classification. If we had to pick a “must watch” stage, it would be stage 12 over the Tourmalet and finishing on Luz Ardiden. Enjoy the race and stay tuned here for daily race reports from Team Garmin-Cervelo!

More photos from the Tour de France:

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Stage Preview: Tour de France Week 1

Bryan — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:27:26 +0000

The Tour doesn’t really need an introduction, it’s the TOUR. Easily one of the largest sporting events in the world, and certainly the biggest race of the pro cycling season.

For 2011, the Tour celebrates the 100 year anniversary of the first time the race was held in the Alps. The result is a route that doesn’t visit the high mountains for the first 10 stages. That’s not to say the first week will be easy!

Beginning in the Vendee region, stage 1 starts the first week with what might be a common theme: wind off the ocean, unpredictable weather, and tricky stage finishes. Stage 1 finishes up a 1-2k false flat that could leave the pure sprinters fighting for seconds. Look for Tyler Farrar or world champion Thor Hushovd to be battling for the win this Saturday.

In such a huge event, you hate to blow off other aspects of the race, but stage 2 is definitely for “all the marbles” in the first week of this year’s Tour. JV has made it very clear that we’re gunning for the victory in the team time trial. Riders like David Millar, David Zabriskie, Christian Vande Velde, Tom Danielson and Ramunas Navarduaskas all bring a huge amount of TTT experience with them to stage 2. With a team built around riders who are great time trialists, this will be a fun stage to watch!

Stages 3, 4, and 5 all share similar characteristics: none are truly flat, and all could present riders with strong cross winds off the ocean. Stage 5 includes a finish atop the “Mur de Bretagne” in the cycling, moule-frites, and crepes crazed Brittany region of France. There’s no way to call stages 3, 4, and 5 “sprinters” stages, but Tyler, Thor and possiby David Millar or Ryder Hesjedal might all have strong showings on these stages.

Stages 6 and 7 appear to be flatter, further away from ocean crosswinds, and will probably lead to large bunch sprints. Ace leadout man Julian Dean will definitely be helping Tyler Farrar look for a stage win on stages 6 and 7!

Team Garmin-Cervelo is poised with a great line up for this year’s Tour de France. The first week should be a great week for the team, we can’t wait to see it unfold!

View photos from previous editions of the Tour de France:

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Wallpaper: Stage 7 Breakaway, 2011 Tour of California

Bryan — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 08:00:13 +0000

This could be one of our favorite cycling photos ever, taken by team photographer, Mark Johnson from high above Los Angeles during Stage 7 of the 2011 Tour of California. Enjoy!

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Photo Gallery: Stage 7, 2011 Tour of California

Bryan — Sun, 22 May 2011 15:07:33 +0000

Team Garmin-Cervelo went on the attack in the high mountains above Los Angeles during stage 7. Team photographer Mark Johnson was on a motorbike during the stage and captured some great images of Ryder Hesjedal and Andrew Talansky in the breakaway. Enjoy!

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Photo Gallery: Ryder Hesjedal’s Cervelo R5ca

Bryan — Sat, 14 May 2011 19:24:54 +0000

Cervelo has given Ryder a special gift for this weeks Tour of California. This is definitely one of the coolest bikes we’ve ever seen! Scroll through the full gallery below for more pictures.

Preview: Paris-Nice

Bryan — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 19:06:39 +0000

The race to the sun kicks off tomorrow near Paris, and the argyle armada is poised for big results.

Starting near Paris, and finishing on the French Riviera, Paris-Nice is commonly known as the race to the sun.

It’s arguably the official kick-off of the French stage racing season, and the list of previous winners supports that argument.

Team Garmin-Cervélo comes in with what might be the strongest team we have ever started at Paris-Nice.

Johan Van Summeren, Andrew Talansky, Gabriel Rasch, Martijn Maaskant, Daniel Lloyd, Christophe Le Mevel, Ryder Hesjedal, and Heinrich Haussler are all slated to start.

With a very diverse squad, it looks like Ryder Hesjedal and Christophe Le Mevel will be gunning for the overall, but Maaskant and Haussler will be mixing it up in the sprints and looking for breakaways.

It would be short sighted not to mention up and comer Andrew Talansky as a dark horse for a stage win or even a top overall placing. Andrew recently placed fourth overall at the Tour of Mediterranean and will definitely be in the mix on the hillier stages of Paris-Nice.

More photos from previous editions of Paris-Nice:

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Preview: Eroica Montepaschi Strade Bianche

Bryan — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 16:24:51 +0000

March is a month when pro cycling fans start to get excited about the big one day classics in April. It’s tough to ignore just how close we are to Flanders and Roubaix, but there is no reason to ignore the month of March.

Just take a look at our Schedule…it’s loaded! There are some fantastic stage races to look forward to in March: Paris-Nice, Tirreno-Adriatico, Vuelta Murcia (starting today!), among others.

Having said that, we get the most excited for the big one day classics.

The first big race of the spring is Eroica Montepaschi Strade Bianche on the white dirt roads of Tuscany. Eroica is a relatively new race on the pro calendar, but what it lacks in history is easily over come by the exciting racing it always produces.

Our 2011 Eroica start list includes: Tyler Farrar, Roger Hammond, Ryder Hesjedal, Brett Lancaster, Travis Meyer, Ramunas Navardauskas, Matt Wilson and Tom Peterson.

This year our squad heads into Eroica poised improve upon some great results in previous years:

2008: Maaskant 4th, Hesjedal 10th
2009: Hesjedal 10th, Hammond 14th (CTT)
2010: Hesjedal 5th

While Hesjedal is certainly considered one of the favorites (Velonews interview by Andrew Hood) for Saturday’s 190km contest, you can’t ignore the top- to-bottom quality of our squad.

Tyler Farrar comes into the race with great form after a 4th place finish in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, and Roger Hammond brings years of classics experience to the table.

As is the case with all one day classics, the list of contenders lining up for Saturday is stout: Cancellara, Gilbert, Sagan, Pozzato, and Cavendish are all looking to build momentum and grab a big win ahead of Tirreno-Adriatico and the crown of the Italian spring season: Milan-San Remo.

All that said, the real question is who will pick up Garmin-Cervelo’s first win of March? Chime in on our Facebook page and tell us what you think!

The first person to guess correctly will win a 6 pack of Camelbak Podium Bottles from the team shop!

More photos from previous editions of Eroica:

Race report: Liege finishes the Spring Classics

CJ — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 02:10:20 +0000

Team Garmin-Transitions rounded out a good Spring Classics campaign with Ryder Hesjedal putting in strong performances. Director Lionel Marie sent this report from the final Spring Classic:

After a nice Fleche Wallonne for Garmin-Transitions, with four guys in the finish (three of them youngs guys: Michel Kreder, Peter Stetina, Dan Martin) and a top ten for Ryder, it was onto La Doyenne, the oldest of the European Classics.

At 258km Ryder did his max and just arrived in top 15 so another good finish of an Ardennes Classics for him. But our team was better with Christian Vande Velde who always put Ryder in good position at the right moments. Dan Martin did well also but had some problems with allergies.

Trent Lowe is still one of the best teammates and Cameron Meyer, after a month dedicated to the track, it is never easy to start the road in the Classics — but this guy is a good one! Michel gave his part and stopped after 200kms to head to Romandie, where we hope for good things from him.

Christian Meier was again the perfect teammate (though it was good to see him on the podium for meta volantes in Pais Vasco!) And Peter Stetina is continuing to learn.

The Classics are done, now it’s time for stage racing!

More photos from Liege-Bastogne-Liege: