Ryder Hesjedal of Victoria has cycled steadily, even stealthily, by remaining in contention in 14th position overall after five stages of the 2013 Tour de France.
But it wasn鈥檛 until Wednesday that people realized what a physically heroic accomplishment that has been. Hesjedal has been riding with a broken rib since a crash in the first stage that was originally thought to be minor.
The rib break was only confirmed with an X-ray taken Wednesday.
鈥淚 have had some discomfort since the crash I was involved in during Stage 1. A scan today confirmed a fracture, so at least now we know what we鈥檙e dealing with,鈥� said Hesjedal, through his Garmin-Sharp team.
鈥淎 lot of times with rib injuries, the fractures don鈥檛 show up right away. So waiting until [Wednesday], we were able to confirm what鈥檚 going on.鈥�
There really isn鈥檛 any option except to keep pushing the legs through the pain.
鈥淭here鈥檚 not much you can do about a fractured rib except to deal with the discomfort,鈥� said the three-time Olympian Hesjedal, who won the 2012 Giro d鈥橧talia and was sixth in the 2010 Tour de France.
鈥淪o that is what I鈥檝e been doing and will keep doing.鈥�
Hesjedal has experienced his share of physcial distress in recent events. The Colwood-raised 32-year-old veteran crashed out of the 2012 Tour de France and 2013 Tour de Suisse and became ill and had to also abandon the 2013 Giro d鈥橧talia after winning it the year before.
A couple of other Garmin-Sharp riders took spills Wednesday but Hesjedal managed to stay out of trouble.
鈥淭he team overall is strong and motivated and our goal is to keep lighting up the race as we roll toward Paris,鈥� said Charly Wegelius, the Garmin-Sharp director sportif.
Hesjedal is in a group of six cyclists who are 17 seconds behind overall leader Simon Gerrans of Australia. The two other Canadians in the 100th edition of the Tour, however, are pretty much out of it. David Veilleux of Cap-Rouge, Que., is 143rd overall, 25 minutes and 28 seconds behind Gerrans, and veteran Svein Tuft of Langley is 169th and 33:23 in arrears.
British sprinting great Mark Cavendish won Wednesday鈥檚 break to the wire in the 228.5-kilometre fifth stage from the beach town of Cagnes-sur-Mer to the metropolis of Marseilles for the 24th stage victory of his Tour career, which is fourth best on the all-time list.
Hesjedal placed 103rd among a massive group of 155 riders given the same time as Cavendish.
Today鈥檚 176.5-kilometre sixth leg, from Aix-en-Provence to Montpellier, is another flat stage for the sprinters. The mountains, however, are looming for climbers such as Hesjedal with a medium-ascent Friday followed by back-to-back steep ascents Saturday and Sunday before a rest day Monday.
The 21-stage Centennial Tour concludes with the first-ever night finish July 21 in Paris.
