Hesjedal TdF jersey fetches $1,775
Ryder Hesjedal’s race-worn and autographed Tour de France jersey sold for $1,775 on Saturday through eBay.
The money goes to the Ryders Cycling Society of Canada, a foundation Hesjedal started to support cycling in Canada and to promote the sport of cycling in North America.
Hesjedal wore the jersey for Stage 5 of the 2012 Tour de France. Bidding closed on Saturday, July 6.
“It’s a great way to celebrate the start of the Tour de France and raise funds to support cycling in Canada,” said Cody Graham, director of Victoria-based Media One Multimedia and the RCSC.
“Ryder is an inspiration to so many young cyclists and proceeds from this auction will help them in their athletic pursuits. It’s a pretty neat piece of sports memorabilia as well.”
To support RCSC visit ryderscyclingsociety.org or to registration for Ryder Hesjedal’s Tour de Victoria on Sept. 22 see tourdevictoria.com.
Injured Hesjedal will help team on Tour de France
A broken rib suffered in a crash on Stage 1 of the 2013 Tour de France hasn’t stopped Ryder Hesjedal.
The Victoria cyclist and Garmin-Sharp team member held strong through the flat stages but slipped in the first two mountainous legs of the tour, Stages 8 and 9 on Saturday and Sunday.
Garmin-Sharp teammate Dan Martin won Stage 9 on Sunday but by that time Hesjedal was down 26 minutes from the lead. To his credit, Hesjedal was part of a five-man break which was caught earlier in the day that forced the peloton’s hill climbers to chase them down and ultimately helped Martin win.
However, mountains tend to be Hesjedal’s strength, and the 18 minutes Hesjedal dropped back of the lead on Sunday signals a limitation to his output, and an end to his attack on the general classification. His role will now involve helping or protecting Dan Martin and, for Canadian cycling fans, hopefully chasing a stage win.
“I have had some discomfort since the crash I was involved in during Stage 1,” Hesjedal said last week.
“A scan (July 3) confirmed a fracture so at least now we know what we’re dealing with. A lot of times with rib injuries fractures don’t show up right away so waiting until today we were able to confirm what’s going on. There’s not much you can do about a fractured rib except for deal with the discomfort so that is what I’ve been doing and will keep doing.”
It could be worse.
Hesjedal’s longtime teammate Christian Vande Velde crashed on Stage 5 and was believed to be have dislodged a screw from a previously inserted metal plate in his neck. The American veteran continued riding until he crashed hard again on Stage 7, at which time he walked to the team car with no intentions of continuing.
Garmin-Sharp’s Tour rookie Rohan Dennis, 23, withdrew on Stage 9, a move that was preplanned, and leaves Garmin-Sharp with seven riders.
