A weekend of drama in the Giro: A Canadian takes the lead

Well what a weekend that was in the Giro. You'll have noted that I provided no coverage on here as the riders were hammering out the drama on the roads of Italy but that was because on the weekends I tend to remember I have a life and don't get near the computer quite as much. Still, the Giro waits for no man, and neither it seems does Ryder Hesjedal who moved into the Pink jersey to become the first Canadian to ever wear the Maglia Rosa. Hesjedal is on a fast track to becoming the greatest Canadian cyclist of all-time which wouldn't be hard given that only Steve Bauer stands in his way. Still, it was a proud moment for cycling in Canada, and for Canadian sport in general though I just wish the Canadian media would give him more attention than they do.

If you aren't from Canada and are wondering just what kind of coverage we get, think of the coverage the British press gave cycling pre the days of Chris Hoy and Mark Cavendish and you'll get an idea. Sportsnet, one of the big sport networks, have provided brilliant live coverage each day and will also cover the Tour of California, but if Hesjedal's achievements made the top story on the sports websites, then it was pushed well down the page by the time I got to it within thirty minutes of him spraying that champaign everywhere.

Hesjedal's big day came on Saturday morning as I was getting ready to head out to the practice session for my mountain bike race that weekend. I sat in my gear delaying my departure as the riders grinded up the final kilometres of the days final climb. In the pre-race preview I said something about all the hard hills coming in the final week of the tour, assuming by looking at the profile that days like this one would be better suited to a classics type rider. Little did I know that the climb was harder than it looked and that it was certainly the first test for the pre-race favourites. No it wasn't the high mountains, but it did show why you shouldn't base your pre-race preview on the profile you get off of Cycling News. As Mark Cavendish himself said on Twitter over the weekend: "If the last 3 days we've done are classified as 'medium mountain stages', then I'm totally shitting bricks for the Dolomiti stages!" Poetically put Cav.

Paolo Tiralongo of Astana won the stage after jumping from what was left of the elite group along with Michele Scarponi in the final few hundred yards much to the despair of breakaway man José Herrada who was caught and passed within sight of the line. Frank Schleck and Joaquim Rodriguez lost but three seconds and the five seconds that Hesjedal came in behind was more than enough to ensure he would move into the race lead. What did hurt his potential overall lead was the time bonus' that the first three picked up.

The next day it was another Italian, Domenico Pozzovivo winning on another tough stage. Rodriguez again took time back by finishing third, leading a group that included Hesjedal and other pre-race favourites over the line. Hesjedal maintained his race lead but the gap had dropped to just three seconds over Rodriguez. It's going to be tough to keep the Spaniard under control when the climbs get longer and steeper later in the race, but Hesjedal will have a big advantage over him in the time-trial so he only needs to limit his losses.