Ryder Hesjedal looks ahead to the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and Montréal
The afternoon before the start of the Tour of Alberta, Ryder Hesjedal was already talking about the races that would follow: the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and Montréal. The two WorldTour races, which will run for the sixth time this year on Sept. 11 and 13, have consistently been targets for the Victoria cyclist since their inception. The exception came last year. “They were difficult to miss last year, but I wanted to take the opportunity to do the Giro and the Vuelta,” Hesjedal said. “I had never done that in my career. It felt like a good time to do it. I was happy with the way it went: I was able to win a [Vuelta] stage. That was great. But the flipside to doing the Vuelta was missing these events.”
In 2010, the first year of the Quebec events, Hesjedal did quite well. He was the top Canadian in both races: fourth in Quebec and third in Montreal. In the following two years, he didn’t crack the top 10. In 2013, he came in 39th in Quebec and was back on the podium, third, in Montreal. “I know I need to race quite a bit to get into form,” he said. “Certainly Alberta will give me that chance to get into good form, like I did in ’13. Then, I was pretty tired after the Tour de France. I was OK in Alberta, but not in my best shape. By Montreal, I was at the front. If I could pull that off again, I’d be happy.”
Before the start of the Tour of Alberta on Tuesday, Hesjedal had been taking time to recover from a long season that, to that point, featured 77 races. It started with the Tour Down Under in January. He had a tough Giro d’Italia, in which he faced setbacks at the start of the three-week event and worked hard to finish fifth. “Even with some setbacks that you’d think would destroy your chances for a good result overall, I was able to stay committed and have some of the best racing I’ve ever done in my career,” he said. “In the last half of the Giro, I pushed the race. I wasn’t afraid to get in breaks and really put it out on the line. By the end, I almost won the two last mountain stages and climbed to fifth overall. That was really a great result for me. Even though I’ve won the Giro, I was pleased with that ride and the condition I was able to have.”
After the Giro, it was on to the Tour de France. Hesjedal didn’t race for GC and was glad to be able to push the race and even battle for the stage on Alpe d’Huez. Afterwards, he was in the mix at the one-day Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian.
During Hesjedal’s break between San Sebastian and Alberta, he came out with some big news: after eight years with Slipstream Sports, on the team currently called Cannondale-Garmin, he’s moving on. In 2016, he’ll ride for Trek Factory Racing. “I had a nice offer from Trek,” he said. “They want to support me and what I feel I can do. It feels like a good fit and it’s time to take that challenge. I’m looking forward to experiencing some new things and changin’ it up.”
Hesjedal is in a position that many riders find themselves in during that latter part of the season: riding on teams that they won’t be on next year. He and his fellow Cannondale-Garmin riders likely won’t be working together after the two races in Quebec. Still, Hesjedal said their minds will be on the tasks at hand, not wandering to thoughts of next year. “You can know as early as Aug. 1, that you’ll be on a different team next year. You need to be professional and carry out the agreements you have already.”
The Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec is a 16-lap race that gives riders 2,976 m of climbing over 201.6 km racing. In Montreal, they face 17 laps, each 12.1 km, for a total of 3,893 m of climbing in 205.7 km. These two one-day races, with their difficulty and place in the race calendar, make them good preparation for the world championships later in September. This year, with the worlds just south of Quebec in Richmond, Va., riders can get miles in their legs in the same time zone in which the contest for the rainbow jersey will be held. For Hesjedal, however, the Quebec races are the goal. Worlds are an afterthought. “I’ve always gone to Quebec with those races as my focus. In 2012, I had a long season. Quebec and Montreal definitely helped with my form for the world championships and on to Lombardia and Beijing. But normally Montreal is my last race. Now, I’m not preparing for anything in Quebec and Montreal. I want to be performing there.”
Still, he hasn’t ruled out worlds. “If I turn up in Quebec and Montreal and win both races easily,” he said with a laugh, “you definitely have to consider that.”
