There you go, I mentioned it. Normally it goes the Italians’ way and any “outside” win is special. And Hesjedal winning is extra special as he has stuck with his boss, Jonathan Vaughters, and “believed” for so long. Where others have had Vaughter’s blessing and support and blown it, Hesjedal has quietly grown and accomplished his goals. And how he won is special, too, by riding a strong time trial and following the key moves. He stuck at it, yet never appeared overly confident. He kept close. Only in week 3 did he seem to realise that the others weren’t foxing. He really was the best rider over 3 weeks. Does this now mean he gets 100% team support in Le Tour, this year or, perhaps more likely, the next? Or does he aim for the Vuelta?
Hesjedal creates Grand Tour history in Italy : Cycling Central on SBS
Garmin-Barracuda’s Ryder Hesjedal created cycling history overnight when he became the first Canadian to win a Grand Tour at the Giro d’Italia.
Good to see Canberran Rogers getting back to top form. Sky will have a potent stage winning – and perhaps overall GC-winning team at Le Tour 2012, indeed. Wiggins will have to fire with this level of classy support.
Bayern-Rundfahrt 2012: Stage 5 Results | Cyclingnews.com
Rogers said, “It’s great to get the wins here. I haven’t won a field race like on Thursday since 2006. That was a relief but wherever you win it’s always nice. I don’t feel like I’m at my peak yet. I’ve pretty much come straight off a heavy training camp with a few days’ rest. It’s quite exciting times if we can achieve results like this coming off the back of quite an intense camp. I think that’s a sign of the team’s strength. I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing more of Team Sky riding on the front.”
Worth noting that Petacchi is firing, too. Coupled with Allan Davis close on his heels and the thought of Goss joining him at Le Tour it looks like a hot green jersey competition this year. Even if Cav is cooked and doesn’t finish.
