Ryder Hesjedal (centre with blue helmet) leads a group of riders up Mount Royal at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal race, Sept. 11, 2011.Tom Boland
Two of Canada's top international cyclists, Ryder Hesjedal of Victoria and Will Routley of Whistler, B.C., both placed fifth in their respective stage races Tuesday, Hesjedal at Spain's UCI World Tour Volta a Catalunya and Routley in the first stage of Italy's UCI 2.1-rated Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali in Italy.
Hesjedal, riding for Garmin-Barracuda, was part of an elite group of 20 that escaped the peloton in the Catalunya climb known as Alt Dels Angels, peaking 11 kilometres before the finish line in Girona. The Canadian's teammate, Irishman Dan Martin, pushed for the lead over the summit and kept the advantage during descent, but was reeled in on the flat before the city. Michael Albasini of GreenEdge won his second stage in a row and continues to wear the leader's jersey. Hesjedal sits second, tied on time with 29 others.
Routley, a former Camadian road race champion riding for the SpiderTech team, joined an early lead group that stayed alive to the very end as the peloton misjudged the catch. Italian rider Andrea Palini of Team Idea was the fastest of the day, winning the sprint after 140 km of racing between Misano Adriatico and Riccione.
"With narrow, bumpy and twisty roads on the 15 km circuit with a short climb, everyone expected an early break," said SpiderTech sports director Michael Carter. "Will executed as we talked about before the race -- but Panali was very strong."
Today the riders set out from Riccione for Gatteo, a distance of 99.5 km including a technical descent of 20 km followed by a 14.9 km Team Time Trial. It will be the first Team Time Trial ridden by Team SpiderTech.