April 12, 2008 – We last heard from Ryder Hesjedal in early March, when we caught up with him following his solid start to the 2008 season with Team Slipstream / Chipotle. Soon after that, he finished an impressive 8th on GC at Tirreno-Adriatico, an 1,122 kilometre stage race across Italy. Last week he was training in his European home of Girona, Spain, when he got a last minute call to race the Belgian classic Ronde van Vlaanderen/Tour of Flanders this past Sunday, replacing injured teammate Steven Cozza. Despite the lack of specific preparation, he completed the challenging (should I say brutal?) race, crossing the finish line in Meerbeke in 82nd place, in a group 17:35 behind winner Stijn Devolder (Bel) Quick Step. We thought it was time to get another update from the Victoria, BC native, so he could tell us about his last few races and what lies ahead.

First of all, tell us about your 8th place overall at Tirreno-Adriatico.
Ryder Hesjedal: Yeah, that was definitely a good result, I’m pretty pleased with that. I’d done the race before with Phonak and had a not so bad ride (38th overall in 2006). At that time I wasn’t quite at the level I am now, so I sort of knew what it would take to do better. Based on how the early season was going it was a clear goal to try and make something happen in Tirreno, so when it all started to unfold early on, it was easy to really dig deep and try and finish it off and prove that was possible. Even down to the last day, moving up a couple spots was great – for the team and for myself it was a great result.

What does a consistent ride in an important race, where you improved every day, do for your confidence?
RH: Yeah, it was definitely the kind of real accomplishment and a confidence builder for the early season. Basically from that point I was like “ok, this has really happened, I was able to do this, now where do we take it from here?” I decided at that point to take a rest and continue on and not lose my condition and incentive by taking it too far. So I decided to take a break and start building after a good rest for the Ardennes races. Those races suit me best as the next objective, and also build towards the Giro. Racing at Flanders on Sunday was a little change of plans, and while I didn’t really prepare for the event I was able to jump in and do it.

You’d raced it before a couple of years ago – what had you learned that you could apply this time?
RH: Just simply doing it and finishing the race and knowing the effort it takes to actually complete Flanders, (knowing) the important moments of the race, and where you need to be physically and tactically ready. I obviously had optimistic intentions going in but with little preparation for this type of race it wasn’t realistic to expect to finish in the front group. It’s such an important race and everybody’s firing at 100%. I was pretty pleased with where I was able to sit throughout the race but once we got over the (Oude) Kwaremont and through the Paterberg and the Koppenberg it definitely got sorted out and I knew how to ride, to make it to the end, and not kid myself to maybe stay at the front for two bergs and then not be able to finish. I definitely wanted to use the race as good training to complement what I’ve been doing since Tirreno and that’s exactly what happened. I stayed out of trouble and was able to make it to the finish line. Doing all 264km of Flanders it’s a pretty nice feeling to get to the finish line and come away with really good training.

Training at the Tour of Flanders with 17 steep bergs, cobblestones, some rain & hail – just a typical Belgian classic – explain how hard a challenge a race like that is.
RH: It’s definitely unique. I’m just fortunate that I’ve experienced all the races that they have up there (in Belgium) with my time at Postal, Discovery, and Phonak – I did all the classics up there. That’s a big part just knowing what to expect. Being at home training and piling on the mileage and not really thinking of performing it was like, “ok, I have to race Flanders in a couple days.” It was still an opportunity that you don’t pass up. Flanders is a great event to be a part of so I just took it in stride, and went up there and gave it my best. I knew it was going to be epic from looking at the forecast a couple days out on my computer. I just went up there, stayed positive, dressed accordingly and used my skills to survive the bumps and hills and made it to the end.

What was Slipstream/Chipotle’s team plan going into the race?
RH: Pretty open, I mean there was definitely an idea for a couple guys to get in an early move if there was a realistic attack from the beginning that could maybe do something worthwhile, so there were a couple guys on the lookout for that. But mostly just to try and survive the battle and have a good day and obviously make it to the end and ideally have someone making it at the front. It wasn’t certain who was clearly “the man” for that meaning everyone had an open card to try for that if the opportunity came up. Obviously Martijn Maaskant was right there, a pretty talented Dutch rider on his first time at Flanders was in the front group (note: he finished 12th, 21 seconds behind Devolder) – that was pretty impressive. And Maggy (Magnus Backstedt), obviously his main goal was a week after Flanders (this Sunday at Paris-Roubaix). The true vets know not to push it when it’s not really their race and just ride as they need to. I think he had great sensations doing what he needed to do that day to keep building for Roubaix (note Backstedt finished 43rd, in a group at 9:14 behind Devolder.) A guy like Tyler (Farrar) just loves those races so I think that was his first time to finish the Ronde (finishing 54th, in the same group as Backstedt), so that was good for him. And myself, just making it through conservatively. A couple other guys had some bad luck with crashes and first-time experiences so just an all-around big mix of variety for a first-time team showing.

What’s next for you in preparation for the Giro d’Italia and what goals do you have in those races?
RH: I’ll ride Paris-Camembert (April 15) a one-day in France, then start on (next) Sunday in the Amstel/Flèche/Liège week. At a week like the Ardennes Classics, there’s obviously the creme de la creme coming for those races, (Davide) Rebellin and (Danilo) Di Luca and these guys. Paris-Camembert I’ve done and had a good experience there. Actually I think it was the only race I did with Lance (Armstrong) with Discovery in 2005. I was able to kind of bring the peloton down and make a selection for him and Tom (Danielson) there so I’m a little familiar with that race. I’ll definitely be trying to do well at that one which is a little lower calibre than Amstel/Flèche/Liège. But I’ve done all those races as well so now the first-time attempts are definitely in the past and I can try and make something out of those races. We’ll see how it goes but ideally it’s to come out of that week better than I was going into it, and build for the Giro. I think there’s definitely an opportunity to have some breakthrough.

Do you feel that your form and results so far put you right on track for the Olympics in Beijing?
RH: Yeah, everything I do now is in the best interest for Beijing. Racing at the top level is what’s needed for the Games and I think that so far, since the beginning of February, I’ve made a pretty solid case for myself, and also in previous years. I see myself in Beijing representing Canada for sure so right now I’m definitely not worrying, or stressing, or anything about it, because I think it’s going to be a natural part of the season. I’m focused on the important stuff and the opportunities that are before me now. It’s definitely going well and if you look at the results of my peers in Canada I think I’m definitely showing myself at perhaps the best level I’ve ever been, so that’s always encouraging.