May 8, 2008 – I spoke with Ryder Hesjedal by phone from his Girona, Spain training base a day before he was to head to Sicily for the Giro d’Italia. He is excited about being one of the nine racers chosen to compete in Slipstream-Chipotle’s first ever Grand Tour. He especially looks forward to the rarest of road disciplines, Saturday’s opening Team Time Trial, after which he believes a member of his Slipstream-Chipotle squad has a real chance of donning the Giro’s leader’s jersey, the coveted Maglia Rosa.

The last time we spoke you were heading toward the Ardennes Classics in April. How did that experience go?
Ryder Hesjedal: Oh, it went really well. I did Paris-Camembert on the Tuesday before Amstel (Gold Race) and that went well, I finished in the front group. And then Amstel was a little bit different, definitely the selection at the end of that one is really specific and I just used it as a good long effort. I finished about five and a half minutes back (5:25 behind winner Damiano Cunego,) so that was good to get that distance (257.4km) in the legs with not really a big preparation coming in, a lot of those guys coming from Pays Basque (Vuelta al País Vasco) and those types of races are already in that kind of condition. But that was really good. Then I was feeling better and had a good race in Flèche (Wallonne) until the very end there, the puncture didn’t really work out for the final up the Mur (de Huy). But the plan and everything went perfect, with me and Dave (Millar) making it to the final and he was able to help me get in good position and have a chance for good ride at the end there but the puncture kind of took that out. And that kind of set the stage for Sunday (Liège-Bastogne-Liège,) feeling good and it was a great week in Belgium. I just wanted to have good ride on the Sunday and it was good for what I was expecting, that was my second Liège, but the first time to go that distance (261km) and feel what it really is like in the final of a race like that. Just that new climb they put in there was a real clear selection and decider of the race and I wasn’t quite on that kind of form to stay at the front with those guys, I just made sure I made it into the end there again too, I think four something minutes back (4:09) behind winner Alejandro Valverde) in a group.

And what have you been doing since Liège?
RH: Just recouping, and this weekend we did a lot of specific Team Time Trial training, a little mini–training camp here in Girona with all the Giro team, Friday, Saturday, and then a long ride on Sunday. And then just again resting these last couple of days.

What exactly do you guys work on in a Team Time Trial camp?
RH: Basically just run through all the paces and everything that’s going to be happening on opening day (Saturday’s Stage 1 of the Giro). That’s simply it, just going through and doing it all before then,

What’s the difference between having a bunch of top notch ITT riders that Slipstream-Chipotle has, like David Millar, David Zabriskie, Danny Pate, Christian Vande Velde and you, and actually gelling in a Team Time Trial?
RH: Well, with anything the team always has to gel together and have chemistry so I guess it’s maybe magnified to the highest extent in a Team Time Trial, you have to work together that much more precisely. That’s why we went through the motions already because it’s probably the first time that this whole group has actually raced together – the Grand Tour roster, and that’s the team – and we’ve already done a good little training block together so now we just try and carry that over to Italy.

And having a bunch of National Time Trial champs on the line is a great advantage.
RH: Oh, I think it just makes it that much better and easier when everyone’s really comfortable and knows that it’s going to be a good situation. The team’s really focused on putting forth the best effort on that opening day and there’s not really a reason to settle for anything less than winning that stage, so it’s easy to focus around that and try and do it.

At the Tour de Georgia, Slipstream-Chipotle won the TTT – granted, a lot shorter stage – but the team still beat CSC, High Road and Astana and Zabriskie, Pate and Vande Velde were on that squad. Does that give you confidence in the TTT abilities of the team?
RH: Oh, yeah, that’s already a good showing. It was quite a bit different, not on Time Trial bikes and a different type of course, but it’s always confidence-building when guys perform and do the best, when you take a victory that’s what you’re always shooting for. The guys coming off that, and then the guys who did a hard week at the Ardennes there so the blending of that combination, the way the group is, is a good situation. I don’t know if I could be any more excited heading down to the Tour of Italy and being on a team that’s ready to possibly take the victory in the opening stage and just go from there, it’s pretty motivating.

So taking the Maglia Rosa in that first stage.is the clear team goal?
RH: Oh, definitely. I mean you can’t not set that goal when you have the top equipment, the top guys, it’s an easy goal to go for the victory.

And have you thought further down the line about the following stages if you expect to hold onto or contend for the Maglia Rosa?
RH: I don’t think we’ve even really run any scenarios past the opening day, we’ve got to really focus and take that day as it comes and it’s pretty straightforward after, what the game plan is. There’s no sense rally focusing on that at all at the moment. We’ll just put everything into that opening day and the rest just takes care of itself.

Are there any other goals for the team or for you personally in the Giro?
RH: Right now just the general outlook of the race, and there’s lots of time when we get down there and just really get our hands on the details and then go from there, let the first days unfold and see how you feel. With us looking at the first day with a lot of energy we’re just really focusing on that. And then after that we’ll see what direction makes sense for everybody and those types of things. Right now it was just getting through that Ardennes week for me in the best possible way and then this last period, and get down there in good shape and get the race started and then you just kind of day by day let things unfold.

Who are the guys on this Giro selection that are the leaders, the guys that you’ll take your cue from?
RH: I think obviously Dave (Millar) and Dave (Zabriskie) and Christian (Vande Velde) are some of the more experienced guys that have been on teams that are really targeting Team Time Trials and these types of events (Grand Tours) and there are guys who have had so much experience all over the place like a (Magnus) Backstedt or a Julian Dean. Yeah, there’s unlimited amounts of experience to resource from and everyone has their own little pieces to contribute. I think the makeup of the team is pretty exciting, it’s the first Grand Tour for a team that’s new, relative to the level that it’s at now and it’s exciting, you just go and try and make the best of it.

You raced in the Giro in 2005 and the Vuelta a España in 2006. What did you learn in those other Grand Tours that you can apply in this Giro?
RH: Quite a bit, actually. They were kind of two exact opposite experiences so I think I’ll be able to really come into this one with simply having those two different experiences and try and make this one the best I can. Right now this was my plan from the very beginning as soon as I signed with Health Net (in 2007,) I knew I wouldn’t be riding a Grand Tour for at least a year or more and the first possible chance to ride again was the Giro on whatever the team it may be. I was able to get myself in that position and now I’m leaving for Italy tomorrow so for me that’s more of a personal goal that’s accomplished to this point and now I just take the race as it comes and that’s really the way that I’m going to approach it.

Jonathan Vaughters has headed up this team since 2004, when it was TIAA-CREF. He’s methodically built the team from an American development team to the level it’s at now. What does it mean to you to be a member of the Slipstream-Chipotle’s first Grand Tour selection?
RH: I think it’s a compliment and hopefully that’s what they saw in me, coming into the team and being able to be a rider that’s selected for an event like this and being able to contribute. So far it’s going again, perfectly the way I’d hoped it would go. That’s all really, and I just try to keep that kind of energy happening, continuing. That’s how I’ve been approaching this year, just trying to keep things in a positive way, moving forward.

Speaking of moving forward, have you heard anything from the CCA about Beijing, has anyone contacted you with an update on the Olympic selection process?
RH: Not so much. I saw Vincent Jourdain (National Team Coach) a couple times over here just crossing paths, he was at Flèche with the women’s program. Yeah, I know they’re aware of the results and know what level is needed and hopefully that’s boding well for my selection and we’ll just have to see how the next few months unfold and where it all goes.

Timmy Duggan was injured in a crash at the Tour de Georgia. What updates have you heard on his status and health?
RH: I think he’s doing well now, he made it through some surgeries and that stuff. The last updates were that things were well and he’s on the road back now, resting and recovering, that’s all you can do after something like that (broken clavicle and scapula, along with mild brain hemorrhaging.) That’s a bit depressing,.. I mean the guys in Georgia had quite a roller-coaster. We were busy racing over here in Belgium but also being very involved, watching that event, when you have the team also competing somewhere else. You can just imagine the ups and downs they were having personally there with that one and everything else. This is bike racing, it’s highs and lows and everything in between, so it’s just a good think that he is ok in the big picture.

Here in a lot of North America it’s “Bike Month.” I know that for you it’s always “Bike at Work Day,” but “Bike to Work Day” is coming up later this month and Chipotle’s giving free burritos to bike commuters because they know they’re good riding fuel. Has anyone shipped a bunch of Chipotle burritos to you guys?
RH: Well, we have team cards, we can always get a burrito whenever we want but there are no Chipotles in Girona here that I’m aware of. I don’t know when I’ll be able to get my hands on one (laughs.)

You’ll have to wait until you get home.
RH: Mmmm, yeah.

I’m pretty certain that there are no Chipotle restaurants in Italy either, but I think Ryder will be fueled by pasta power for the 21 stages and 3,473 kilometres of the upcoming Giro d’Italia.