Oh Hesjedal!
If you heard a loud and unsettling noise this morning at around 11 am, it was the sound of my head exploding with joy and pride as Canadian Ryer Hesjedal time-trialled his way into cycling history. He went into today’s time trial 31 seconds behind the leader, hammering his way through the streets of Milan to secure victory by a nail-biting 16 seconds.
Hesjedal was not only the first Canadian to win a stage of the gruelling 21 day Giro d’Italia, but today became the first Canadian to win any of the three Grand Tours of cycling – the Giro d’Italia, Vuelta d’Espana or Tour de France.
In terms of cycling, this trophy is the Stanley Cup.
Unlike the Stanley Cup, however, it’s design is not conducive to holding vast quantities of beer. Silly Italians.
Not too shabby considering of all 198 starting riders in the general classification, only four were Canadian. Compared to countries like Italy, France and Spain that seem to produce pro riders by the bushel, Canada is typically more modest in numbers. But if there is anything we Canadians excel at, it’s modesty.
I won’t pretend to be a lifelong Hesjedal fan. In fact, I didn’t even pick him to be on my vicarious Giro pool team (stupid, stupid, stupid). I do know that he was a pretty big deal mountain biker and made the switch to road cycling in 2005. After his team leader Christian Van de Velde crashed and broke his ribs in the 2010 Tour de France, Hesjedal moved up the proverbial ranks to finish 6th overall, much to the surprise of…well, pretty much everybody.
Like most Canadians, he is understated and polite. Throughout the Giro he frustrated the Italian media by consistently answering probing questions about how he felt about his performance or odds with a simple “good”, followed by twenty minutes of uncomfortable silence. But make no mistake, under that flaccid demeanour lurks the passionate heart of ten thousand angry lions. Early in the race, Hesjedal bristled when a journalist referred to him as a “dark horse”. Bristling is the Canadian equivalent of throwing a chair.
Today’s Giro win easily puts Hesjedal in the ranks of Canada’s cycling royalty – like Alex Steida and Steve Bauer (neither of whom can claim a grand tour victory). It has even been suggested he may, even for a brief moment, move ahead of Pamela Anderson on the list of famous Canadians.
So how does a great Canadian react to such an incredible accomplishment? According to the Vancouver Sun, “he exhausted any dictionary list of adjectives”.
Perfect.
Photos: Sirotti, Andrew Vaughan, Bas Czerwinski/Associated Press.
Seems you might have to reconsider your ban on wearing pink after todays results ?
Congratulations to all you Canadians! It was great to see Hesjedal win the Giro.
Another GREAT Canadian athlete who deserves recognition: Briana Theisen, Humboldt Sask. Briana will be competing this next week for the National Championship (usa).
5-Time NCAA Champion (Heptathlon twice, 4×400 Meter Relay; Pentathlon-i twice)
Pac-10 Champion (Heptathlon, twice)
USTFCCCA Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year
USTFCCCA Indoor Field Athlete of the Year
Pac-10 Field Athlete of the Year
Bowerman Award Semifinalist
5 School Records (Heptathlon, 100 Meter Hurdles; Pentathlon-i, 60 Meter Hurdles-i, High Jump-i)
8-Time All-American
You know, in Sweden we have a life-long love for your country due to your vast forests, big lakes, long rivers and of cource ice-hockey. And now we are aware of what great cyclists you have (even though he is a bit norwegian).
Haha, yes. Someone really needs to school us on how to pronounce his name properly. Judging from your blog, Sweden looks very much like parts of Canada. I would love to come see it first hand some day. I bet you have an Ikea or two there. We LOVE Ikea.
You are more than welcome. With your blond hair you would really fit in. IKEA is the most popular place to visit among swedes on weekends. My wife goes there while I am cycling. I have been to B.C. and Vancouver and it was quite similar to Sweden, even though everything in Canada is bigger, taller and longer. My wife and I were really interested in moving there.
I can’t wait to see what he does in the Tour De France. Against the Schlecks, Thor, Voigt,
Rodriquez almost pulled out the victory yesterday. Which would have been a huge surprise. 16 second margin of victory after 21 days that is crazy.
When was the last time someone won two Grand Tours in same year?
Marco Pantani (God rest his soul) was the last person to win both, in 1998.
It would be difficult, and I know there is a question about whether he would compete at all, and if so, what role he would play.
This is also an Olympic year, which will also have a huge effect on what his plans are. Very exciting!!!!
And din’t she look snazzy on the Telly!
Sorry, but this is the Stanley Cup of Cycling:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/2005/07/24/tour.france.2005/content.1.html
On this point we may have to agree to disagree. The TdF is no question the darling of bike races, and we love it for the attention it brings to our sport. But many would argue that the Giro is a harder, prettier and more exciting race, and therefore the pinnacle of the grand tours.
Personally, I am happy to have them both!!
Me too.
So I agree to disagree. I think the TDF in my mind is tougher (Alps and Pyrenees), better run, and has to some degree more beautiful scenery (at least on TV) with great countryside, Alps, many castles and Paris. But we were rooting for Hesjedal just the same – congratulations to all of Canada and North American cyclists everywhere. Maybe he will win the TDF soon.