Trek's Ryder Hesjedal is motivated to race in 2016

In December, VeloNews reporter Andrew Hood sat down with 2012 Giro d’Italia winner Ryder Hesjedal (CAN), who after nine years associated with Slipstream’s Garmin finds himself on the eve of racing the Santos Tour Down Under and kicking off the 2016 UCI WorldTour season with Trek-Segafredo. In the interview Hesjedal told Hood that he had seriously contemplated calling it quits at the end of 2015, but now feels re-energised by the team switch.

Eurosport caught up with Hesjedal on Saturday to get first hand his thoughts on the change of heart.

“It’s natural as you get older as a rider to think about retirement,” admitted Hesjedal. “There were a lot of changes last year with Garmin merging with Cannondale, and it was basically a new team. Guys were moving on and I thought maybe it was time for me to move on too.

“To be honest, it wasn’t like I was leaving what I’d really known for years and years.”

The 35-year-old Hesjedal first started his career with the then-UCI Professional Continental team Garmin-Chipolte in 2008 – a year before the squad stepped up to WorldTour as Garmin-Slipstream.

“I realised I still wanted to push myself and that steered me toward looking at what was out there and that’s how this all came together,” he said.

Trek-Segafredo quickly signed the Canadian mountain biker-turned-road cyclist in August. A move that has the three-time Olympian and Canada’s only grand tour winner feeling excited about continuing his professional racing career.

“It’s great to wear a new kit and freshen up,” said Hesjedal. “Plus, it’s a great team with a lot of energy, especially with Segafredo coming on board and Jack Bobridge winning the Aussie road title last weekend, so it’s an exciting time and I’m happy to start the new season.

“To go from potentially stopping to getting a whole new start with a new team is so motivating, so I don’t know if this will be my last year.

“I just have to see how this season goes and right now I feel pretty enthusiastic.”

While Hesjedal’s head may have entertained thoughts of stepping down from the sport last season, someone forgot to tell his legs. The Victoria native showed he still possessed world class-talent with strong showings on the sport’s hardest mountain stages during the closing days of both the Giro and the Tour de France. Hesjedal finished second behind Italian Fabio Aru (Astana) on both stage 19 and 20 to climb into fifth on the Giro’s final general classification, and then backed up with a third-place finish on stage 20 atop the Alpe d’Huez at the Tour a month later.

“I knew I was in good shape at the Giro,” claimed Hesjedal. “I was targeting that race all year. Losing five minutes on stage 5 was not good but I’ve been in that situation before, so I didn’t let that get to me and I knew if I rode like I can and go for it I’d still be in the race.

“If I were struggling and not up in the front, then maybe I’d look at stopping more, but I got through another big season that included the Giro and the Tour and in 85 days I did every race that I was scheduled.

“The passion is still there and I think I still have lots to give,” he concluded. “Trek thinks so too. It really worked out they wanted someone for the Giro this year and I was a perfect fit to go and have another crack.

“After that, who knows… but I’m not ruling anything out.”