Hesjedal snatches Grand Tour victory in Milan

CYCLING: Ryder Hesjedal became Canada’s first ever winner at a Grand Tour event as he snatched victory from Joaquim Rodriguez on a dramatic final stage of the Giro d’Italia.

Hesjedal (Garmin-Barracuda) overhauled a 31-second gap to erstwhile pink-jersey holder Rodriguez on yesterday’s 28.2km time-trial around the streets of Milan.

Hesjedal took sixth place, 66 seconds behind stage winner Marco Pinotti (BMC Racing), to top the final General Classification by 16 seconds from long-time leader Rodriguez (Katusha).

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“It was just an unreal experience from day one, with what we’ve been able to do, with the support of the team,” Hesjedal told reporters.

“I couldn’t have done it without them. I knew I was good when I came here. I just stayed focused and took advantage of the situation. I kept feeding off that support.”

Behind the Italian Pinotti, Britain’s Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) was second, 39 seconds back, while Jesse Sergent (RadioShack) was third.

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