Although crashing out of the Tour de France was a crushing disappointment at the time, Ryder Hesjedal now recognises that the enforced mid-season break has handed him the opportunity to add a second big WorldTour success to his results for this year.
The Giro d’Italia winner showed rising form in netting sixth in last weekend’s Il Lombardia, and hopes to hit a higher level again next week in the Tour of Beijing.
“If I made it through the Tour and had my normal schedule I probably would have stopped after Montreal like the last couple of years,” he said, “but I left the Tour after only getting a week in. Only having the Olympics left me a little short of race days through August.”
Hesjedal’s form has clearly been on the up in recent weeks. Prior to that Il Lombardia result, he was twelfth in both Milano – Torino and Gran Piemonte. And while he began his season way back in January when he contested the Santos Tour Down Under, he still has enough in the tank to line out next Tuesday with ambition. His chances will be enhanced by the lack of a time trial and a hillier route this time round.
He believes that the leaders some teams have sent point clearly towards a more aggressive race. “[Looking at] some of the riders that are here, it shows they are hoping that there is some selection in the GC on some days,” he explained. “That will shape the race for the overall.”
The Garmin Sharp team also has another rider who Hesjedal believes could feature. “We have Dan Martin and myself who can be there on the hilly selective days, so we’ll see if we can be part of that.
“On the days for the sprinters we’ll be looking to set up Heinrich, so I definitely think the team is suited to whatever the race has for us.”
The rider who he refers to is Heinrich Haussler, who has the ability to grab a stage if he’s in good form.
Also on the team are last year’s Paris-Roubaix winner Johan Vansummeren, German national road champion Fabian Wegmann, the talented young American Alex Howes, past Tour de France top ten finisher Christophe Le Mevel and Thomas Dekker.
The race begins next Tuesday and runs for five days. It is the final WorldTour race of the season and with points up for grabs, will likely be very hotly disputed.
Garmin – Sharp for Tour of Beijing:
Thomas Dekker (Ned, 28)
Heinrich Haussler (Aus, 28)
Ryder Hesjedal (Can, 31)
Alex Howes (Usa, 24)
Daniel Martin (Irl, 26)
Christophe Lemevel (Fra, 32)
Johan Vansummeren (Bel, 31)
Fabian Wegmann (Ger, 32)