Cannondale-Garmin’s Ryder Hesjedal climbed to 12th place on the first true mountain stage of the Giro d’Italia to move up to 13th overall heading into the third and final week of racing. The Canadian put in a brave solo chase up the Madonna di Campiglio and was rewarded with a two spot gain on the general classification for his efforts.

“Ryder has shown that he is in really good shape,” said sport director Charly Wegelius. “He was riding very well on the first category climb but unfortunately a rider from Movistar crashed right in front of him. Ryder had to brake and stop, which is how he got caught in the second group."

“His performance on the last climb speaks for itself,” Wegelius added. “He was more or less going at the same speed as the pink jersey group only they had between four and five teammates working together and Ryder was working alone. He was fast – that’s for sure. He never showed any signs of cracking. It was pretty impressive.”

While Hesjedal chased an elite front group to limit his losses to around three minutes, Davide Formolo found a small group to work with up the summit finish. The Italian crossed the line in 30th place.

“Davide fell off twice in two days,” said Wegelius. “He rode the longest time trial of his life yesterday. He’s never raced a race this long, so every day he’s breaking a record and redefining his limitations. It’s not unexpected that he would have a tough time. Having a tough time and learning how to deal with it is an important skill in cycling, and that’s exactly what he’s doing.”

Before the decisive finale, Hesjedal and Formolo benefited from the support of their teammates who dedicated their energy to helping their teammates conserve before the roads ramped up.

“The stage began as aggressively, as it has every day at this Giro,” said Wegelius. “The start was very fast, and the break was never really able to establish itself. The team looked after Ryder and Davide. They made sure Ryder and Davide were in the right place at the right time and they did it well.”

Tom Danielson was forced to withdraw from the stage due to a knee injury.

“Tom bashed his knee when he crashed in Genoa,” said Wegelius, referring to Danielson’s crash on stage two. “Problems with the knee have flared up again, and he wasn’t able to continue.”

Cannondale-Garmin will enjoy a well-deserved rest day on Monday before racing resumes on Tuesday in Pinzolo.