Unable to respond when first Chris Froome and then Richie Porte scorched clear on the Col de l’Ospedale climb yesterday, Tejay van Garderen has conceded that his BMC Racing Team needs to go up a level in order to take on the British team this year.
“Sky is obviously very strong and we are obviously going to have to step our game up if we're going to be competitive with them,” he said after yesterday’s stage.
The young American rider went into the stage third overall, having finished in the same position in the stage two time trial on Saturday afternoon. He was just one second behind Porte and felt there was a chance he could win the race overall, but that plan unravelled approximately five kilometres from the top of yesterday’s climb when Froome surged clear.
Van Garderen tried to chase but made little impact on the gap; with approximately two kilometres to go Porte also surged and the BMC Racing Team rider couldn't go with him.
He eventually crossed the line in fifth place, 45 seconds behind Froome and fifteen behind Porte. That left him third overall in the final standings, 54 seconds off the yellow jersey.
The result follows on from second in the Tour de San Luis in January and then fourth in Paris-Nice. Reacting to the latest result, he said he was relatively satisfied.
“I wouldn't say I had any real objectives coming into this race. It would have been nice to get a stage win – maybe in the time trial – but I'm happy.”
His team-mate Cadel Evans will be less so, with the Australian losing time against the clock on Saturday afternoon and then again yesterday. He was only 49th on the stage, losing almost fifteen minutes to Froome, and was never in contention in the race he won last year.
Evans still believes he can be strong enough to challenge for a second Tour de France title, but clearly has a lot of work to do between now and the race start on June 29th.