At Kona, we’re quite fond of our history as a breeding ground for some of the world’s best cyclists. We’re not a massive company that can afford the likes of some of the world’s fastest riders. We do, however, have a long legacy of sponsoring cyclists who started their professional career at Kona, and then went on to do great things on bikes. Steve Peat, Roland Green, Dave Wiens, Dario Cioni, Greg Minaar, and Geoff Kabush all had successful stints riding Kona early on in their careers. Few know that Ryder Hesjedal, originally from Vancouver Island, BC, rode for Kona as an Espoir, winning the World Championships in 1999 on a Kona. As you may or may not know, after 8 stages, Ryder currently sits in 6th position in the Tour de France, just 1’11″ behind the yellow jersey. Way to go Ryder, here’s some retro John Gibson pictures to keep the fire burning.
As part of our on-going series of exclusive on-line magazine articles, this month’s installment, 
