Ryder Hesjedal of Victoria was emotionally devastated Saturday after a ruinous crash late in the first stage, apparently caused by a fan standing too far onto the road, may have also crashed his hopes in the 2011 Tour de France.
“It’s pretty horrible,” said the lone Canadian, who entered the Tour with such high expectations after placing seventh overall last year for the best result by a Canadian since Steve Bauer’s fourth place in 1988.
“To give up that much time [nearly two minutes], on a fairly simple first stage that was not supposed to be even remotely decisive, is not a good thing.”
Wounded France's Vincent Jerome (C) is seen after he crashed in the pack during the 191,5 km and first stage of the 2011 Tour de France cycling race.
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
Hesjedal got caught up in the disastrous entanglements near the end of the opening stage that shattered the formerly united peloton unexpectedly and irrevocably.
Nearly half the peloton spilled in a heap with about nine kilometres remaining after rider Maxim Iglinskiy of Kazakhstan clipped the fan and ricocheted back into the pack, ripping into the peloton in the 191.5-kilometre opening stage from the coastal resort of Passage du Gois to the 232-metre summit of Mont des Alouettes in the Vendee region.
“Just when everything seemed OK and normal with only less than 10 kilometres to go, all I remember is falling over and smashing my hand on someone’s handle bar,” said Hesjedal, by phone.
There was a long pause when Hesjedal was asked how a racer recovers from such an early deficit.
“There is no answer to that,” Hesjedal finally replied.
That the situation is not of his making is irrelevant. It happened. And now it is a big hole from which to climb.
“Whose role in it or what caused it doesn’t matter,” said Hesjedal.
“You can never be completely safe.”
Ironically, Hesjedal had warned in a pre-race interview Friday that in a daunting 3,430-kilometre challenge over 21 stages, the early key to the Tour is to stay away from trouble.
Easier said than done, apparently.
“It was so frustrating of a day,” said the dejected Hesjedal.
Another crash Saturday, also involving several riders, happened a few kilometres later.
Hesjedal finds himself in 96th position, one minute and 55 seconds behind opening-stage winner Philippe Gilbert of Belgium, who broke away to finish in four hours, 41 minutes and 31 seconds. That was three seconds ahead of second-place Cadel Evans of Australia. Hesjedal was part of the fourth large grouping across in 4:32:26. Also finding himself in the first pile-up was defending champion Alberto Contador of Spain, now in 82nd place and one minute and 20 seconds off the pace. Another favourite, Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain, also went down, changing the entire complexion of the race after just one day.
It appeared as if all the riders would finish as a group before the peloton was fractured into several pieces. The main spill cut a swatch through the middle of the pack where Hesjedal was cycling. The fan hit was reportedly uninjured. About 40 of those riders positioned at the front, such as Gilbert and Evans, rode on unimpeded.
“I kept hearing: ‘Crash, ‘crash,’ ” the Aussie Evans told a TV media scrum following the stage.
“It’s all part of the first week of the Tour.”
Hesjedal, a noted climber, is thought to have a late advantage because the mountain stages this year are all bunched into the second half of the race and the first of them isn’t until Stage 12.
But late benefit or not, it is imperative the climbers stay in contact with the main pack throughout the early stages. That is the dilemma in which the Belmont Secondary graduate Hesjedal now finds himself.
“You look out for problems, and stay away from them, and keep in contention until you get to the mountain stages,” said Hesjedal on Friday before the Tour start, in a statement that now sounds ironically fateful.
Hesjedal will look to regroup in today’s second stage, the 23-kilometre team time trial through the narrow and twisty streets of the town of Les Essarts. Hesjedal’s Garmin-Cervelo pro team — among 22 pro teams featuring 198 riders in the 2011 Tour field — is known for its strength in the team time trial although that seems small consolation for the Canuck after the unexpectedly negative dramatics of Saturday’s first stage.
In all, there are 10 flat stages, six mountain stages with four summit finishes, three medium mountain stages and a team and individual time trial each before the 2011 Tour concludes July 24 in Paris.
There’s a lot of time and distance remaining. But will even three weeks be enough for Canada’s hope to make up nearly two minutes?
Posting Source: http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=victc-ca-5041769
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