Hesjedal confirmed for Tour de France
To be provisional team leader, part of "triple threat"
Ryder Hesjedal, who became the first Canadian to win the Giro d’Italia in May, will race the Tour de France as well, claiming that he’s in the best form of his life. Though exceedingly rare, and not accomplished since climbing ace Marco Pantani did so in 1998, Hesjedal has hopes of adding a yellow jersey to his pink one. Hesjedal told Cyclingnews, “I’m completely optimistic for the rest of the season. I have the luxury of having no pressure at all and nothing to lose.”
Hesjedal won’t race in the time between the two Grand Tours, but will instead fine tune his form. He will start the race as the leader, but acknowledges that he might ride in support of another rider if need be. Speculation is that manager Jonathan Vaughters will send Americans Christian Vande Velde and Tom Danielson to France to form a triple threat. Time trialing specialists David Zabriskie of the U.S.A. and Brit David Millar will be along, as might Irishman Daniel Martin, who is currently carrying on in the Criterium Dauphiné despite crash injuries. Tyler Farrar will be the Argyle Army’s sprint threat.
The Tour de France starts on June 30 with a 6.1 kilometre prologue time trial in Liege, Belgium.
