Ryder Hesjedal Tour Down Under diary – Stage 6: Hesjedal and Nathan Haas on the final stage
“It’s good to wrap it up,” said Ryder Hesjedal, a Victoria native who will now return to his off-season base in Maui, Hawaii. “We now have a WorldTour stage race in the legs. It’s still January and we just look forward from here and get going.
by Aaron S. Lee
The 2015 Santos Tour Down Under (TDU) is done and dusted, after the sixth and final stage ended on Sunday with a 90-km, 20-lap circuit race won by Dutchman Wouter Wippert (Drapac Pro Cycling) over newly crowned Australian road champion Heinrich Haussler (IAM Cycling) and Boris Vallee (Lotto-Soudal).
However, the final stage results did not alter general classification, as Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing) became the third South Australian to win the TDU in the race’s 17-year history—joining compatriots Stuart O’Grady (1999, 2001) and Patrick Jonker (2004).
Dennis finished second on Stage 5 up Willunga Hill behind back-to-back Willunga winner Richie Porte (Team Sky), who finished second in GC just two seconds back on Dennis. BMC teammate and retiring Tour de France winner Cadel Evans finished third.
For Cannondale-Garmin, team rider Alex Howes (USA) broke off in a five-man break on the first lap before being caught on the 19th lap before a mass pileup on the final turn heading into the final lap.
“Our teammate Jack Bauer touched down,” said Canadian Ryder Hesjedal, who was making his first return to the TDU since 2012, the same year he won the Giro d’Italia to become the nation’s first Grand Tour winner. “We all bumped front wheels into it, but to be honest we were pretty chilled at the back when it happened.”
Hesjedal was joined in the melee by teammate Nathan Haas (AUS), a pre-race favourite who finished fifth in GC last year. Haas was just 13 seconds off then race leader Jack Bobridge (UniSA) until running into poor form on the arduous uphill finish on Stage 3 atop the Paracombe.
Italian teammates Moreno Moser and Davide Villella were the highest placed Cannondale-Garmin riders, finishing 20th and 21st respectively.
“It’s good to wrap it up,” said Hesjedal, a Victoria native who will now return to his off-season base in Maui, Hawaii. “We now have a WorldTour stage race in the legs. It’s still January and we just look forward from here and get going.
“We were out there and performing and the results board doesn’t clearly show the whole picture,” the three-time Olympian told Canadian Cycling Magazine. “You know it’s a lot of work by the entire team, including riders and staff, putting in the efforts. It’s not easy putting in the work in January, and we are doing our jobs and representing the brand well.”
Hesjedal will now turn his focus to a Giro-Tour double, while Haas will now target the inaugural Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Geelong (AUS) on Feb. 1.
“I already have my eyes on Cadel’s race next week as long as my neck comes good,” said Haas, who is suffering from a slight neck injury following his involvement in a massive crash-marred bunch sprint on Stage 4 that included more than two-dozen riders.
“I totally wanted to show the guys today that they gave me a lot of support all week until it all went tit’s up and today I at least wanted to show I never give up.”
Cannondale-Garmin will run leaner for the Great Ocean Race, with Haas, Howes, Bauer, Moser and Villella.
“It’s a nice team for it and I think we are going to be effective,” said Haas. “It’s gonna be a cool opportunity to be the first winner of an inaugural race.
“I’ve already got my eyes set on the next goal, man,” he continued. “No point dwelling this race as the year is so long.
“My mindset is just that some years you hit the ground running and some years you just hit the ground. Ryder summed it up: it’s January and we got a WorldTour race in the legs and we got to be happy about that.”
The former Sun Tour and Tour of Britain winner also credits Hesjedal for leading by example and setting the tone of the team.
“Every team has a brand, or way they do things,” said Haas. “Sky gets to the front of the race and just rides it out, while BMC tries to get a stage and tries to rip it on the front until the race is over.
“For us, we like to play a bit of a waiting game and move up when it’s important and I think that brand for us is set by Ryder and always has been. It’s slow, in-control, calm, cool and collected, and changes the way you ride and how you approach the finishes and almost always give you a better product in the end because of it.
“Ryder sets that tone.”
Aaron S. Lee (@aaronshanelee) is a pro cycling columnist for Eurosport and a guest contributor to Canadian Cycling Magazine. Aaron will be providing daily race reports with Ryder Hesjedal during the Tour Down Under exclusively for CCM.
