April 26/05 5:13 am - Hesjedal 10th (with interview)

Posted by Editor on 04/26/05
 

Tour de Romandie

Ryder Hesjedal (Discovery) had a very strong performance in the opening day of the Tour de Romandie, finishing 10th in the Prologue. We spoke with him after his ride.

CC - Tenth at Romandie - pretty good!

RH - "That's the first time I've ridden a TT bike in over a year. With all the one days I've been doing, I haven't done any specific work for that type of ride, so I had no idea how I could do. It was a really technical type of prologue, lots of ups and downs, requiring explosive power. After coming out of all those one days, it's been a tough spring, so it was nice to be in the mix here - it gives you a little confidence."

CC - How was Liege-Bastogne-Liege?

RH - "It was hard. The four climbs before the feed zone were really tough. I made it through, I probably could have finished it off with the grupetto, 16-20 minutes down, but there was no point with this (Romandie) coming up."

CC - And now you are scheduled for the Giro? What after that; a break maybe?

RH - "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm doing the Giro, I'm on the 9 (riders selected) right now. It's good - that's where I want to be. I've been pretty fortunate to get all the top one days in my rookie season, it's a big opportunity to get this experience. Now, to ride this race (Romandie) and the Giro, well that's a pretty complete season by the end of May! I've been told that once you do a Grand Tour you come out of it up a level, and that's what I'm trying to do. After that I think I can go home for 2-3 weeks, have a good ride in Kamloops - I really want to do it (Road Nationals). If I can come out of the Giro not too destroyed (laughs)."

CC - As a first year pro you have been getting a lot of good rides - why do you think that is?

RH - "A lot of starts came from bad luck for the team, for some of the guys. There were injuries, sickness, so it opened the way for a new guy like me to get into some of the races. I've had 10 Classics starts in 30 days. This team has been perfect for me, lots of good support."

CC - How have you avoided getting rundown, sick after getting thrown in the deep end?

RH - "I think it is all in the preparation, I did a good job this winter preparing. I was focussing on position, not having to worry about mountain biking, switching over. I did a lot of strength training, and mentally ... , mentally I spent a lot of time preparing."

CC - Did you talk to Cadel Evans (5th at L-B-L), another mountain biker turned to the road?

RH - "I chatted with Cadel during Liege. It was nice to see him sprinting with Bettini for fourth. That gives me something to try for in the future. There are quite a few mountain bikers here (on the road) now - Cioni, Rasmussen ... there's more respect; mountain bikers are proving themselves."

Prologue - Geneva 3.4 km

1 Oscar Pereiro (Esp) Phonak Hearing Systems 4:28
2 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel s.t.
3 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi at 0:03
4 Bradley McGee (Aus) La Francaise des Jeux
5 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank both s.t.
6 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 0:04
7 Alexandre Moos (Sui) Phonak Hearing Systems s.t.
8 Sebastien Rosseler (Bel) Quickstep 0:05
9 Luis Perez (Esp) Cofidis Le Credit Par Telephone 0:06
10 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Discovery Channel s.t.

18 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 0:07
28 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Discovery Channel 0:08
29 Santiago Botero (Col) Phonak Hearing Systems s.t.
38 Tom Steels (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 0:09
96 Patrick McCarty (USA) Discovery Channel 0:17
117 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 0:21
122 Manuel Beltran (Esp) Discovery Channel s.t.
145 Roberto Heras (Esp) Liberty Seguros-Wurth 0:26

Points
1 Oscar Pereiro (Esp) Phonak Hearing Systems 15 points
2 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel 12
3 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 10
4 Bradley McGee (Aus) La Francaise des Jeux 9
5 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 8
6 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 7
7 Alexandre Moos (Sui) Phonak Hearing Systems 6
8 Sebastien Rosseler (Bel) Quickstep 5
9 Luis Perez (Esp) Cofidis Le Credit Par Telephone 4
10 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Discovery Channel 3

Team GC
1 Phonak Hearing Systems 13:36
2 Discovery Channel at 0:02
3 Rabobank 0:10
4 Gerolsteiner s.t.
5 Liberty Seguros-Wurth Team 0:13
6 Liquigas-Bianchi 0:14
7 Team CSC 0:15
8 Illes Balears-Banesto
9 Lampre-Caffita both s.t.
10 Credit Par Telephone 0:16
11 Saunier Duval-Prodir
12 Domina Vacanze
13 Bouygues Telecom all s.t.
14 Davitamon - Lotto 0:17
15 Quickstep 0:18
16 Fassa Bortolo 0:19
17 Francaise Des Jeux 0:21
18 T-Mobile Team 0:26
19 Credit Agricole 0:28
20 Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:36