Hesjedal despite a rib fracture but he insisted push on

Despite suffering from a broken rib, Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin Sharp) put on a brave face as she warmed against the scorching temperatures in step 6 of the Tour de France.

Hesjedal crashed on the first stage of a soldier through the steps of opening and against the team time trial in Nice. cannondale jersey Over the past two days, has kept a low profile in the back of the pack, moving into the finals every step and remains in contention with the rest of the GC hopes.

"Of course it is preferable that has not been broken. It 's like having a knife in his chest and back, and it's all day with my breathing and pedaling.

"I had some discomfort after the accident I was involved in phase 1. Analysis confirmed a fracture today, so at least we now know what we have to do," said Hesjedal, through its team Garmin-Sharp.

"A lot of times with a rib injury, fractures do not show immediately. Therefore foresees that [Wednesday], we confirmed that happens."

There really is no choice but to continue to push the legs through the pain.

"There's not much you can do about a broken rib, if not to deal with the discomfort," said Hesjedal Olympian, who won the Tour of Italy in 2012 and finished sixth in the Tour de France 2010.

"I will fight for it every day, just like I do every time. This is what we do as a team. bianchi jersey  We still have a lot of guys in the race and this is what we wanted, and I think that we are sitting very good basis on how the race was until now. "

Hesjedal came in the tower as a potential leader of Garmin. But the former winner of the Tour of Italy experienced a mixed year for illness and injury. Her performance won the Tour of Catalonia and Liege-Bastogne-Liege were damped by a Giro defense ruined by the disease, while his tour preparations have been put in danger by a fall in the Tour de Suisse.

However, despite the fall, Hesjedal reiterated his optimism for the mountain stages to come and depth of the squad.