Onwards and upwards

This is it. It's time for the mountains of the Tour de France and I'm ready to work my socks off for Christian Vande Velde and Bradley Wiggins. Today's stage to Arcalís is going to be really tough, not just because of the horrific profile of climbs, but because all the general classification guys will want to show that they mean business. That means that riders like me will have to work hard just to position their leaders near the front and keep them from trouble.

Hailing from British Columbia, Canada, Ryder is competing in his second Tour de France this year.

The Garmin-Slipstream rider is a strong domestique and will be working hard as the team hopes to propel Christian Vande Velde and Tyler Farrar to Tour success. Follow Ryder’s exclusive Cyclingnews diary as he battles through the three-week race.