Ryder Hesjedal filled his bag with an overall victory at the Giro d’Italia 2012
Ryder Hesjedal of Team Garmin-Barracuda bagged the biggest victory of his career by registering an overall win at the Giro d’Italia 2012.
He was 31 seconds behind the stage 20 leader Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver and had to perform a miracle to overcome such a massive lead.
The Canadian was determined towards his goals and his all round performance during the 31.5 kilometre stage 21 of the Giro proved his physical as well as mental capabilities.
He kept a close eye on Rodriguez and maintained a good lead over the Spaniard.
Hesjedal finished the race at the sixth position with a total deficit of 1 minute and 9 seconds on the stage winner Marco Pinotti.
Geraint Thomas, Jesse Sergent, Alex Rasmussen and Thomas De Gendt achieved the second, the third, the fourth and the fifth positions in the respective order.
Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver of Team Katusha fell 1 minute and 56 seconds short at the 26th spot and lost his top overall spot at the final classifications.
Ryder was delighted after the victory and thanked his team for their continuous support throughout the three-week race.
He briefed, “This is incredible, I can’t quite believe it, I have to thank my team for their efforts over the past three weeks”.
“I couldn’t have done it without them”.
“I’ve had to dig deeper and deeper as the race has gone on. I also like to thank all the Canadian fans back home for their incredible support”.
“It’s been a fantastic experience. I started to believe in it more and more when I realized that I was riding better in the mountains than I ever have in any other race”.
Ryder’s tremendous performance during the Individual Time Trial final stage of the Giro d’Italia helped him with a 16 second lead over Rodriguez.
Thomas De Gendt of Team Vacansoleil-DCM, Michele Scarponi of Team Lampre-ISD and Ivan Basso of Team Liquigas-Cannondale finished at the third, the fourth and the fifth positions respectively.
Joaquim managed to finish first at the point’s classifications with a total of 139 points in his back pocket.
Mark Cavendish of Team Sky Procycling and Ryder Hesjedal of Team Garmin-Barracuda finished second and third with 138 and 113 points to their credit.
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