Ryder Hesjedal poses for a photograph.(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin - Transitions)(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions)(Image credit: Richard Tyler)
Ryder Hesjedal got a special hug from his girlfriend and lots of congratulations from his teammates outside the Garmin-Transitions team bus parked in the Place de la Concorde, just a few hundred metres from the finish line of the Tour de France.
The friendly but extremely tough Canadian from Victoria in British Columbia secured seventh place overall, 10:15 behind Alberto Contador (Astana) but most of all landed a huge personal victory.
Garmin-Transitions lost team leader Christian Vande Velde on stage two when he fractured his ribs in a crash but Hesjedal dug deep on every stage and stepped up to take over the leadership role.
"It's real sweet to finish the Tour de France on the Champs-Élysées, knowing you're seventh overall," he told Cyclingnews.
"It's been an unbelievable Tour. Now I'm going to enjoy it as much as possible. I was pretty tired after the time trial, physically and mentally, so I didn't really celebrate. We're going to celebrate tonight though.
"This is only my third Tour. The first one is obviously overwhelming and you can never duplicate that. The second was just a relief of getting back and both times we had great rides as a team and had riders in the top five. This time for me to come back and ride as I did and finish in this position, it's really a dream come true."
Hesjedal seems to have the desire to succeed in such a tough and testing event like the Tour de France. He has the attitude and the aptitude to do his very best in the hardest moments of the hardest races.
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"I'm so proud of the way I rode. I wasn't scared and had nothing to lose. I just really pushed the limits and see how far I could lose. It worked out really well.
"I think stage three set the tone for my race but today is right up there too. A lot of people said stage 12 was the hardest stage of the Tour based on what was going on up front. I was proud to be up there that day. Then I think my ride on the Tourmalet put it over the top. I think I took it to the race as much as I could and I wasn't scared to lose big and I think I ended up gaining big."
Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
