Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) saw his hopes of a repeat Giro win shatter to pieces in the first mountain stage in the Giro d'Italia on Tuesday. Having chosen to fight on for now he slotted into a domestique role and helped set Ramunas Navardauskas up for the win.

The Garmin-Sharp team said all along that there big objective for the 2013 season was the Giro d'Italia. Having the defending champion in its ranks all was set for a great showing in Italy in the month of May.

However, those lofty ambitions all fell to pieces in Tuesday's stage to the top of Altopiano del Montasio as the Canadian lost more than 20 minutes in his third consecutive bad day. Having refocused to target stage wins the team bounced back in a strong way yesterday when Ramunas Navardauskas emerged as the strongest from a 20-rider break.

For some time there was doubt whether Hesjedal would continue in the race but for now he has chosen to honour back number 1 and fight on. However, his role has completely changed and he is now the one to help his teammates after having been in the receiving end earlier in the race.

"Today it was all about representing the team and going for it," he told Cyclingnews after the stage. "Everyone has a free card now to go for the race. Ramunas is incredible. Give him an opportunity and he makes good on it. It's not surprising at all."

"I was happy to help him today. I got the guys bottles after 50k full on at the start today and handed Ramunas a bottle when he was fourth wheel from the front just trying to get in the break. It eventually went and it was just him up there, so it was a beautiful way to win."

Regarding his own future in the race, the Canadian was more tight-lipped. An obvious choice would be to go home to recover and then start building up towards the Tour de France. As the defending champion he carries, however, an extra responsibility towards the race and for now he seems to be undecided as to whether he will ride all the way to Brescia.

"It's not about me, it's about the team and the organisation and everyone who's been working so hard," he said. "This kind of event is not easy by any means especially coming in here after winning the event last year with all those expectations and the pressure that everyone puts on themselves."

In today's 12th stage Hesjedal will once again work as a domestique - this time to serve teammate Robert Hunter who hopes to be in the mix in the expected sprint finish. Starting at 14.15 you can follow the action on CyclingQuotes.com/live.