Cleve Dheesaw,
Victoria Times Colonist
July 18, 2010
And that ability has taken him to where only four other Canadian cyclists have gone - the Tour de France.
As a youngster, Ryder Hesjedal of Victoria would go into bike shops all over his hometown and marvel at the elite factory bikes. He remembers finding his heroes on the cycling magazine covers that lined the shops' walls.
``Now I'm that guy on some of those magazines and it's a journey I think about,'' said Hesjedal, from France, where he is riding in his third consecutive Tour for the pro Garmin-Transitions team.
In 2008, Hesjedal became only the fourth Canadian to ride in the Tour de France. He rode in the tour again in 2009. This year, Michael Barry of Toronto joined Hesjedal on the Tour to became the fifth Canadian in a pantheon that includes Steve Bauer of Fenwick, Ont., Alex Stieda of Belleville, Ont., and Gord Fraser of Ottawa.
Of the five, only Hesjedal and 11-time Tour rider Bauer have ridden in more than one Tour de France, with Bauer recording a Canadian-best fourth overall placing in 1988.
``The Tour is what every cyclist dreams of doing,'' responded Hesjedal when asked to describe his emotions during his first Tour in 2008.
``There's only one Tour de France when it comes to pro stage races.''
Two years later, he is making the biggest inroads for a Canadian in pro cycling since Bauer was challenging the big boys in the 1980s.
Hesjedal, 29, has come a long way to get there from the almost achingly shy teenager who turned up at the offices of the Pacific Sport national training centre in Victoria, wondering about how to become a cyclist.
``In the fall of 1996, I had a call from a gentleman (Ryder's dad Leonard Hesjedal) who wanted to come and see me,'' recalled Fred Coyle, who administered the Pacific Sport national cycling centre at the time.
``So he dropped in the next day and told me he had a 16-year-old son who was interested in cycling and wanted to know if he could get some coaching. His name was Hesjedal, of course. Ryder, who was a very shy young boy then, was enrolled in the program and has since developed into a confident, articulate young man who has literally reached the top of the cycling world.''
And the covers of those cycling magazines that captured his imagination as a boy.
Hesjedal's unassuming demeanour masks a ferocious desire to succeed.
``Ryder was always very ambitious and very driven when it came to sports,'' said his mother Paige Hesjedal. ``We never had to encourage him or get him out of bed in the morning. He was already up bright and early cycling the hills of the Highlands with his buddies. He always had such a built-in desire.''
And that may be Hesjedal's built-in edge as he challenges the best in the world on two wheels.
``He always had this constant need to get better,'' his mom said.``You can sense it even now. When he reaches a level, his immediate reaction to reach the next level above it.''
Hesjedal started out as mountain biker and took to mountain biking quickly. Two years after showing up at PacificSport with his dad, Ryder was the 1998 world junior silver medallist. In 2001, he became world Espoir (under-23) silver medallist and in the 2003, the men's silver medallist in the world championships.
``I was fortunate enough to have had a lot of success early in mountain biking, before I even turned 23, so the transition to receiving this current level of attention on the road wasn't a big deal to me because I've been doing this for so long,'' said Hesjedal.
But there were potholes along the way. He arrived at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics as the world No. 2, based on his silver medal at the 2003 world championships. The Olympic podium seemed within Hesjedal's reach until a devastating flat barely moments into the race deflated his dreams.
Hesjedal sat by the side of the course in Athens, his head buried in his hands, for nearly an hour.
But he refocused, this time for a career on the road where he felt the true glamour of cycling resides. As in mountain biking, the rise was sharp and pronounced. He was signed in 2004 by pro team U.S. Postal and raced pro for Discovery Channel in 2005, Phonak in 2006 and Health Net-Maxxis in 2007 before signing with Garmin in 2008. He has risen through the Garmin ranks - helped by injury to lead riders within the team early in this year's Tour - to suddenly become one of its featured riders.
Hesjedal experienced a breakthrough earlier in 2010. In April, he placed second in the Amstel Gold race in Valkenburg, Netherlands, one of the classic one-day road races, and in May won the final stage of the Tour of California, the top North American pro road race.
Pro cycling at this level has led to comfortable lifestyle, including a residence and part-time training base in Maui, although Hesjedal said he still considers himself nothing more than a ``working-class athlete.''
``Our sport isn't at the pay level of Major League Baseball, basketball or football. There are no million-dollar mansions, but I'm happy with where I'm at at this point in my life,'' he said.
``Away from the road and racing, life is comfortable and easy going. I love the living and training environments in both Maui and Victoria. I have no complaints.''
And neither do Canadian cycling fans, who seem to have a new hero.
They voted Hesjedal Canadian cyclist of the decade in an online poll conducted in December by CanadianCyclist.com.
Hesjedal, who will return to Canada to race in the Quebec City and Montreal Grand Prix events in September, called the Canadian decade accolade ``a great honour.''
He is aware of his role as national role model for his sport.
``If I can be an inspiration to the next generation of Island and Canadian cyclists, that's important,'' said Hesjedal, when he met with young fans during a visit back to Victoria in May.
To further hammer on the theme, the Garmin team's website is selling black T- shirts bearing a red Maple Leaf and the slogan ``Ryder: Weight of a Nation.''
You kind of get the point.
``It's been a long hiatus for Canadians in this biggest cycling event in the world (since Fraser rode in the 1997 Tour) and that nickname was given me by the team in 2008 and it kind of stuck,'' said Hesjedal.
Last summer, Hesjedal took second place in a stage of the Tour of Spain and then, the next week, became the first Canadian to win a stage in the Spanish race, part of the Grand Tour of pro cycling, along with the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia. It was the first Grand Tour stage victory by a Canadian since Bauer in the 1988 Tour de France.
Then came this year's Tour de France breakthroughs, which has had Hesjedal as high as third overall.
He does take time to let it sink in.
``For sure, if some psychic had said 10 years ago that I would be in this position at age 29, I would have signed on in a heartbeat,'' he said with a chuckle.
Yet this could be just the appetizer for a full-meal run through several more years on the Tour for Hesjedal. This is his life. This is what he does.
He isn't looking to do anything else for a long time yet.
``You look around the Tour and a lot of the best riders are in their 30s,'' he said. ``Some guys don't do their best riding until then.''
Hesjedal seems destined to become a fixture on the Tour and a growing force on the Canadian sporting scene - just as he dreamt he might, looking at those magazine covers all those years ago.
Victoria Times Colonist
cdheensaw@tc.canwest.com
