Victoria native finishes 7th overall

In the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe came personal triumph yesterday for Canadian cyclist Ryder Hesjedal.

"It was a lifetime of work. Dreams do come true," said the 29-year-old cyclist, whose seventh place overall was the best result by a Canadian in the Tour de France since Steve Bauer of Fenwick, Ont., finished fourth in 1988.

"It was a lifetime of work. Dreams do come true," said the 29-year-old cyclist, whose seventh place overall was the best result by a Canadian in the Tour de France since Steve Bauer of Fenwick, Ont., finished fourth in 1988.And Victoria's Hesjedal was more than willing to share that work and that dream with other Canadians present at the finish ...

Ryder Hesjedal defied many expectations on the climb to the Tourmalet for the finish of stage 17, attacking out of his group to take fourth on the stage and move up to eighth on the general classification.

“It’s unreal,” he said after the stage. “I knew I had good legs on the rest day and wanted to do a good showing today. Job done!”

When asked what went through his mind as the final attack went, he replied that he resisted the urge to try to follow and instead ride his own race.

“Those guys went and everyone wants to follow but I was just content to be around guys that were close to me. I stayed in the group there and felt good in the last part and gave it everything.”

“I feel like I’m getting stronger so a ...