Ryder Hesjedal - Garmin-Chipote

Tour de France starts tomorrow (make sure you have your PVR's setup to record the action...)

I just thought I would point out that for the first time in a few years we have a Canadian rider in the Tour. Ryder Hesjedal from Victoria. Here's a link to his website so you can follow his results..

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Go Time.

So its the eve of the Tour de France and with a big opening presentation yesterday, the energy is starting to build! The all new Garmin gear is looking sharp and everything is in place. This has been a dream for several years now and tomorrow it will be realized! I am looking forward to representing Canada as the lone canuck and hope to put on a good show for everyone back home - especially my family and friends!

I also want to thank everybody that has followed and supported me over the years and the entire cycling community around Victoria, and special thanks goes out to Pro City Racing! Be sure to check them out!

Ryder

Victoria cyclist in eye of storm at Tour de France
Ryder Hesjedal will be the first Canadian to ride in the famous 21-stage race since Gord Fraser in 1997
Cleve Dheensaw, Times Colonist
Published: Friday, July 04, 2008

Ryder Hesjedal of Victoria describes the scene in Brest, a town on the Brittany coast where the 95th Tour de France begins tomorrow, as being "like the Stanley Cup final crossed with the Super Bowl."

And thrown right into the swirling centre of this surreal sporting cauldron is Hesjedal, who will become the first Canadian to race the Tour since Gord Fraser in 1997.

"The whole town is crazy with people coming in and it's exciting to be a part of," said the Belmont Secondary grad, who will race for the Colorado-based Garmin-Chipotle pro team. And it's not like Hesjedal is some gee-whiz neophyte. This is a rider who went into the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics as a mountain-biking favourite after winning silver at the 2003 world championships. After the three-week Tour, he will represent Canada again by riding in the road race and time trial at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

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