Ryder Hesjedal Discussion Thread

[Carols]

Oh Canada!!!! I'm happy for my neighbors in the North, you now a GT winner

 

[blutto]

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

...that was great!...many thanks for bringing that to our attention...

Cheers

blutto

 

[The Hitch]

just been looking through canadian newspaper websites and most of them have ryder as one of the main stories. Got a congrats from the pm and some skiiers and positive comments from the readers. Talk even that he could win Canadian male athlete of the year

 

[the delgados]

Congratulations to Ryder for a fantastic Giro. He put cycling on the map in Canada, at least for a day.

Although he is most deserving of Canadian athlete of the year honours, I'd be surprised if he won. The award is determined by sports writers and editors, most of whom equate cycling with professional wrestling.

 

[The Hitch]

Congratulations to Ryder for a fantastic Giro. He put cycling on the map in Canada, at least for a day.

Although he is most deserving of Canadian athlete of the year honours, I'd be surprised if he won. The award is determined by sports writers and editors, most of whom equate cycling with professional wrestling.

In what way?

Besides, in the land of Bret hart, i dont see the problem

 

[Zam_Olyas]

What he did is pretty fcukin ninja

 

[the delgados]

I'd prefer not to shift the focus on a Ryder appreciation thread.
Let's just say that most sports writers in Canada know absolutely nothing about cycling and leave it at that.
p.s. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty certain that Bret Hart's palmares do not include an athlete of the year honour. This is an outrage!

 

[Unkown]

Ryder was the first thing on the news today, the station I watch is Canada's most popular news station, so surprised he actually got that much attention. Congrats again Ryder!

 

[the delgados]

http://www.thestar.com/sports/artic...italia-victory-is-truly-one-for-the-ages?bn=1

Mere minutes after saying Canadian sports writers know nothing about cycling, I came across a column by the lovely and talented Cathal Kelly of the Toronto Star.

I hope the copy/paste function works. If not, I apologize for being a luddite.

 

[Johnny Rotten]

Oh Yes

What a great day for Canadian Cycling! That was a great Giro right to the end and Ryder is a great Champion.

Kudo's to the whole Garmin Team on a great Giro!

 

[Neworld]

What a great day for Canadian Cycling! That was a great Giro right to the end and Ryder is a great Champion.

Kudo's to the whole Garmin Team on a great Giro!

Well said!

He is a true Champion and an person worth looking up to. Nothing beats a calm and humble athlete who pays as much attention to acknowledging his team-mates efforts as he does to earnestly loving to race a bicycle.

Lead by example Ryder, oh ya, you already do. Great work eh!

 

[TheEnoculator]

I can't even begin to emphasize how important today is to Canadian cycling. The fact that Ryder was a major underdog, the fact that EVERYONE, including his rivals, underestimated him, the fact that he's the reason "Oh Canada" was playing at the end of a Grand Tour for the first time ever. This is legendary, this is a landmark. I hope this is the beginning of blossoming of cycling in Canada, that this is the beginning of people taking Canadian cyclists seriously. Congratulations Ryder!

 

[Category 6]

I can't even begin to emphasize how important today is to Canadian cycling. The fact that Ryder was a major underdog, the fact that EVERYONE, including his rivals, underestimated him, the fact that he's the reason "Oh Canada" was playing at the end of a Grand Tour for the first time ever. This is legendary, this is a landmark. I hope this is the beginning of blossoming of cycling in Canada, that this is the beginning of people taking Canadian cyclists seriously. Congratulations Ryder!

Agreed. I think the average person in Canada feels that cycling is not a serious sport, or that it is full of dopers. Cycling just hasn't got a high profile in most of Canada (parts of B.C. and Quebec excepted). Most people here look at a bicycle as a toy - the product of our car culture, I suppose.

That's why I am optimistic that Ryder's victory today will give the sport more attention in Canada that it deserves.

 

[The Hitch]

Ryder was the first thing on the news today, the station I watch is Canada's most popular news station, so surprised he actually got that much attention. Congrats again Ryder!

its brilliant. Ive spent the last 2 hours reading every article in the canadian press about it and very little of it is "lets see what he can do for the tour". In fact most of them don't write anything about his future and just treat the win as a major milestone that will stand the test of time. Lots of comments in the comment sections say that it is one of the best feats ever achieved by a canadian athlete.

In this country any Giro win would only produce a "pfff, come back when he has won the tour" reaction.

 

[John Paul William Gibson]

Headline: Rodriguez's Loss. Subtext: Hesjedal's victory

It's truly pathetic that on the website's front page, cyclingnews has put Rodriguez's "narrow miss" over and above (literally) Hesjedal's victory in the Giro. What the hell is up with that?

 

[Eric8-A]

I think Hesjedal's calm attitude throughout the whole race played a big role in his victory. It was his first time doing something like this and never seemed to be under any pressure, even when losing the pink jersey to Purito. But he rode this Giro perfect, and that lead to his overall victory. Awesome.

 

[Ripper]

Chapeau! Chapeau! Mothertrucking chapeau!

This is awesome. I was off to a race today and was stopped several times by folks seeing me on my bike and exclaiming about Ryder's win.

Absolutely superb!

And not only am I impressed with the win, but like so many others, about the way he rode the entire race.

 

[Caruut]

It's truly pathetic that on the website's front page, cyclingnews has put Rodriguez's "narrow miss" over and above (literally) Hesjedal's victory in the Giro. What the hell is up with that?

Haha, calm down. That just lists the major articles on CN with the most recent first. It means they posted the "Ryder wins" article first, then they posted the "Purito loses" article. If you look elsewhere on the homepage, you could also get yourself worked up over Purito's 2nd place being reported below Troy Brosnan's injury.

 

[Afrank]

And not only am I impressed with the win, but like so many others, about the way he rode the entire race.

Definitely, he rode the entire race like a champion. He could have just stayed with the climbers, and sucked wheels, and waited for the time trial but instead he attacked multiple times and took it upon himself to do the chasing on the Stelvio. The way he rode the entire 3 weeks makes him a more deserving winner than any other.

 

[The Hitch]

Chapeau! Chapeau! Mothertrucking chapeau!

This is awesome. I was off to a race today and was stopped several times by folks seeing me on my bike and exclaiming about Ryder's win.

Absolutely superb!
.

What random pedestrians?

Great story.

 

[Ripper]

What random pedestrians?

Great story.

Actually, yes. It was pretty weird, 'cause cycling is really not that big in most parts of Canada and I usually get looked at as an annoyance by car drivers. But his guy was walking his dog, sees me, and starts talking to me about Hesjedal. Then this guy in his car at a stop light.

It was cool!

 

[meat puppet]

It's been a riot in Montreal, apparently.

 

[595RED]

What random pedestrians?

Great story.

Awesome, Brilliant effort, what a superb ambassador for cycling, not a small dog in sight or ageing rockstar!

 

[stainlessguy1]

Congratulations!

I am only going to say , Congratulations Ryder! , A job well done and deserving victory. Stay as focused as you are and you are going to go far.
Best of luck in spirit and strength we will be cheering for you .

 

[The Hitch]

Has ryder been on the front pages today?