Ryder Hesjedal

Ryder Hesjedal
Hesjedal at the 2016 Tour of Alberta
Personal information
Full nameEric Ryder Hesjedal
Born (1980-12-09) December 9, 1980 (age 43)
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Height1.87 m (6 ft 1+12 in)[1]
Weight73 kg (161 lb; 11 st 7 lb)[1]
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeAll-rounder
Amateur teams
1999–2004Gary Fisher (MTB)
2002–2003Rabobank GS3
Professional teams
2004–2005U.S. Postal Service
2006Phonak
2007Health Net–Maxxis
2008–2015Slipstream–Chipotle[2]
2016Trek–Segafredo
Major wins
Grand Tours
Tour de France
1 TTT stage (2011)
Giro d'Italia
General classification (2012)
2 TTT stages (2008, 2012)
Vuelta a España
2 individual stages (2009, 2014)

One-day races and Classics

National Time Trial Championships (2007)
Medal record
Representing  Canada
Men's mountain bike racing
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2003 Lugano Cross country

Eric Ryder Hesjedal[3] (/ˈrdər ˈhɛʃədɑːl/;[4] born December 9, 1980) is a Canadian retired professional racing cyclist who competed in mountain biking and road racing between 1998 and 2016. Hesjedal won a silver medal at the 1998 Junior, 2001 Under-23, and Elite world championship in mountain biking. He turned professional with U.S. Postal Service in 2004 after several years with the Rabobank continental team. Having previously finished in fifth place at the 2010 Tour de France, Hesjedal won his first and only Grand Tour at the 2012 Giro d'Italia, the first Grand Tour win by a Canadian. Other major wins include two stages at the Vuelta a España, the first such stage wins by a Canadian.

Danish cyclist Michael Rasmussen asserted in his autobiography that he taught Hesjedal how to take erythropoietin (EPO). Hesjedal later admitted that this doping allegation was "the truth" and that he "chose the wrong path".[5] Hesjedal has not served a ban as a result of his confession to USADA, and has publicly expressed a desire to be honest and transparent. VeloNews reported in 2014 that "The 33-year-old Canadian, however, stopped short of explaining what drugs he took, and when".[5]

  1. ^ a b "Ryder Hesjedal". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  2. ^ "Team Garmin-Sharp-Barracuda Unveils 2013 Roster". Garmin–Sharp. Boulder, Colorado: Slipstream Sports LLC. December 28, 2012. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  3. ^ "Eye of the Ryder". Impactmagazine.ca. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  4. ^ Giro d'Italia (May 3, 2018). "A great Giro's friend visits us in Jerusalem: @ryder_hesjedal! #Giro #Giro101". Twitter. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Hesjedal admits to doping: 'I chose the wrong path'". October 30, 2013.