Now with two Tour de France races under his belt, Ryder Hesjedal is not slowing down.

With the 3,500-kilometre, three-week race ending on July 26, Hesjedal went on to claim fifth at the hilly, 227-kilometre San Sebastian Classic race in Spain last Saturday.

Highlands raised Hesjedal, 28, finished this year’s Tour de France in 49th place on the Garmin-Slipstream team. With this his second time on the tour – and the only Canadian on the tour - Hesjedal had a better idea what to expect, but nothing could make the ride any easier.

“Obviously it’s nice to get back to the tour, it’s always been a goal of mine,” Hesjedal said in an interview from Spain, where he's lived since 2004. “It’s satisfying being a part of the biggest event of the year and being a part of a top team.”

During the Tour, Hesjedal contributed to the success of his teammates. Bradley Wiggins placed fourth, behind Astana’s Lance Armstrong, and Christian Vande Velde placed eighth.

“The leaders need support of the team,” Hesjedal said. “Everybody on the team is working together and everything gets balanced out. My direct contribution was to make (Wiggins and Vande Velde) as light as possible and moving them up in the peloton.”

A notable achievement for Garmin-Slipstream, on July 7 Hesjedal with four of his teammates blasted through the team time trial stage on a fast 39-kilometre ride. The team finished in 46:47, just 18 seconds after team Astana took first.

“We believe we could of won it,” Hesjedal said. “We were under 20 seconds behind Astana and that’s frustrating.”

Hesjedal endured the 21 stages of the tour including tough mountain climbs and also had to recover quickly from crashes with other bikes. Taking a tumble in the tour can be disorienting, but Hesjedal said he just focuses on balance and recovery.

“Crashes are never easy and your body gets out of whack and messed up,” Hesjedal said. “If you crash and don’t have to leave in an ambulance, you’re already ahead of the game.”

Hesjedal said this was the first time he raced against Lance Armstrong, an icon of the sport and seven time Tour winner.

“It’s amazing to see him back in race and you can see the attention he draws in,” Hesjedal said. “But if he’s not here someone else is going to be in third.”

Hesjedal said he is continuing to train and race in Europe in hopes of returning to the Tour de France for a third time around. In 2008 he became the first Canadian in a decade to earn a place on the tour.

“I am continuing on at the pace I am at," Hesjedal said. "It is one thing to get to this level and it’s another to stay there."

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