Ryder Hesjedal Discussion Thread

[Teddy Boom]

I have been paying attention to Ryder since I watched him as a junior MTB racer at burn't bridge in shawnigan lake. He started 3 minutes after the elite men and I think he was second only to Roland Green Who started with the elite men. I can' remember but I think he even took a couple of seconds out of Roland. Ryder is a pretty quiet guy but he is clearly speaking loudly now.
I was just too excited when I finally saw today's stage 18. By far the best stage racer ever to be born in Canada. Even when Steve got 4th in the tour as Steve had to loose like 35 minutes to hold 4th.
Go Ryder, you have really earned it!

Master50, you made this exact point about Bauer 2 years ago, and it is still wrong

The year Bauer got the big lead and held on to yellow for days and days was 1990. The lead he was gifted that year was only about 10 minutes. By the end he was 35 minutes down, but that only netted him 27th

The year Bauer finished 4th was 1988. It was a depleted year on GC. Read the link to get the details.

 

[RedheadDane]

“Ryder is so laid-back, he’s almost horizontal,”

Rather epic quote by Allan Peiper from this article
http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/05/news/easy-ryder-calm-before-the-mountain-storm_220782

It also contains this rather cool quote from Ryder himself:

“There’s no sense in being crazy and getting stressed out,” Hesjedal told VeloNews with a laugh. “I am pretty laid back. At the end of the day, it’s still just a bike race.”

 

[Steel4Ever]

The Stelvio is going to be NUTS!

Hope the neighbourhood doesn't mind me screaming @7am on a Saturday morning!

Ryder says he's laid-back but it's good to see him shed the 'nice guy' Canadian stereotype and do some attacking.

If Ryder takes the whole thing and makes it back home, his race is going to be huge: http://vicf.ca/ryder-hesjedals-tour-de-victoria/

 

[meat puppet]

I guess he was a bit confused when TDG went and all the others forced, quite correctly, him to ride. It took too long IMO to drop CVV back to help and perhaps Ryder himself had a shadow of a doubt about having to do the Stelvio after dragging the others there.

But once he got going, he just had it in the legs, got the job done when no one else took responsibility.

I think he wins this.

 

[TheEnoculator]

They're afraid to be labelled "commie pinkos" by Don Cherry.

Don Cherry is a joke. I take EVERYTHING he says with a grain of salt. I can never understand how anyone can take a senior who wears pink and bright purple suits seriously.

 

[180mmCrank]

Don Cherry is a joke. I take EVERYTHING he says with a grain of salt. I can never understand how anyone can take a senior who wears pink and bright purple suits seriously.

Please dont start a Don Cherry appreciation/depreciation thread!

 

[Big Doopie]

hats off to ryder. great ride today -- very much like evans on the galibier last year.

have no idea what will happen tomorrow. but for being in the running for the win and keeping his cool throughout -- real smart riding.

 

[webvan]

Wow, that must have been stressful...when he saw the minutes running away when VDV was pulling, about 2 by my count, and still used him up to his limit, then clawed back 1'45" in what, 2k ? I guess TDG weakened towards the end since Cunego made up time on him, but not that much since Basso finished with the same 5' he had at 2k.

 

[Eric8-A]

The time trial is going to be tense.

 

[Eric8-A]

 

[hiero2]

The time trial is going to be tense.

Yes - and I will be cheering for Ryder every minute of it! Go, Ryder, go! He has come close many times - but this year it looks like we have the right combination with the team and the competitors. It will be grand to see the pink jersey hanging in Canada! (knock on wood!)

 

[hiero2]

You are correct but at 3week stage races Ryder is the best Canadian by miles. Steve's 4th was pure luck and pluck. Steve lost like 30 some minutes to place 4th. Ryder has lost less than a minute and gained most back. Now I would never put Ryder against Steve at Paris Roubaix except Ryder has finished it several times.

They are riders of different talents, but on Monday Ryder will be Canada's greatest GT rider and certainly equal to Steve. That was my diplomatic answer.

I have Ryder as Canada,s #1

You know, the era's were just too different. I don't really think comparing the two is valid. Steve was big when the western hemisphere was just entering the international bicycling competition - at least for the first time since the end of the Major Taylor era. I watched those guys race, and even though we had some obvious exceptions, the training regimes, the money involved (which makes the training regimes possible) are just too different to do much except bs over beers about which one was better.

 

[Neworld]

Plus Hesjedal never cheated someone out of a world championship title. And he still lost lol.

dude you don't really think that about Bauer do you? Cav, Renshaw and Bettini do/did that once a week. Leave it alone.

Bauer was a monster, who came from a tiny town in Ontario and wore the yellow jersey for a pile of days. In the 80's cycling in Canada was as mainstream as someone from IndoChina wanting to luge. Bauer won a pile of races, spoke 3 languages, was well respected and unfortunately ended his career dismally in a dope filled era. Bauer is a legend in Canada and always will be a respected, undisputedly clean, tenacious rider.

Back to Ryder, he's got all the pieces and a nice guy who wins, what a concept. For anyone who's been watching he's been a cycling phenom since he was winning races on the International level back in his MTbiking years. He has had limited 'opportunities' to show his talents as he's always been a helper in the mountains... RH has had a gradual, committed approach to the pro scene and there is nothing unexpected about his GIRO performance.

He can ride the classics and pave, ride ITTs respectably, soar in the mountains and is a great rep for cycling in general. Nail stage 21 Ryder, Canada is cheering for you.

NW

 

[Neworld]

Ryder says he's laid-back but it's good to see him shed the 'nice guy' Canadian stereotype and do some attacking. /[/URL]

Cool comment.

I recall watching the TdF stage to Verbier when he broke away with a bunch of guys, as Phony Phil and Pretty Paul were commentating and the bike camera panned over to Ryder. You could hear him shout some universally understood language at a couple of the echelon guys who weren't working...

..."pull the F*&k thru". That made me chuckle.

Still a nice guy, just intense. I like that.

 

[Zoncolan]

I am really impressed by the way Ryder rode this Giro.
Clearly the strongest rider in the field.
Showed some weakness on the first two mountain stages which his opponents failed to capitalize on.
I expected him to crack somewhere in the third week and kudos to him for making it through unscathed.
The overall is his now.

 

[El Pistolero]

dude you don't really think that about Bauer do you? Cav, Renshaw and Bettini do/did that once a week. Leave it alone.

Bauer was a monster, who came from a tiny town in Ontario and wore the yellow jersey for a pile of days. In the 80's cycling in Canada was as mainstream as someone from IndoChina wanting to luge. Bauer won a pile of races, spoke 3 languages, was well respected and unfortunately ended his career dismally in a dope filled era. Bauer is a legend in Canada and always will be a respected, undisputedly clean, tenacious rider.

NW

Cav and Renshaw ride someone in the barriers once a week from a 3 man group sprint? You don't believe that yourself do you?

 

[blutto]

...nice guy...nice race...great day eh!...

Cheers

blutto

 

[jens_attacks]

chapeau!
full deserved winner,strongest rider of the race!

now... turbo diesel,it's your turn.

 

[cineteq]

Very impressed with his Giro, he earned it today. Congratulations Ryder!

 

[Parrulo]

congratulations to him, i am rather indifferent to him as a rider but he deserved this one more then every1 else, which says more about how the giro was ridden then about rider himself. . . .

 

[goggalor]

Awesome that Canada got their first GT win!

Wouldn't mind if Rodriguez had won either, but the course was more suited to his characteristics than Hesjedal's, so it's very impressive of him to edge out Purito (and to beat all the other riders as well!). Vaughters has turned mid-pack riders into GT contenders before, but Ryder's transformation into a GT WINNER is the most amazing yet.

 

[Delicato]

Congrats to great champion. His perfomance these three weeks was a pleasure to watch. Chapeau.

 

[Category 6]

Interesting article from last year

http://walrusmagazine.com/articles/2011.07-sports-the-pain-principle/

 

[meat puppet]

Told you he'd podium. Hope this promotes cycling in the hockey land!

So, here's Victory by Victoria's second finest, NoMeansNo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf3ypHNwDRU

 

[sartoris]

Well done, Hesjedal. Hope this wasn't just an isolated moment of superb form never to be repeated in the future, though.

Very good race on the whole. Congratulations to Purito, who fought till the bitter end, to De Gendt and to every single rider who managed to finish the course (Cavendish included).