HTC Highroad rider Tejay Van Garderen’s solid showing in the Tour of California has increased the likelihood that he will be selected for his first Tour de France this year.
“It sounds like I am on the team for the Tour,” he said in a post-stage TV interview yesterday. “Nobody knows until the last minute, but when talking to the team they said my chances are pretty good.”
The American has shown clear signs that he is one of the big talents for the future. He was second overall in the 2009 Tour de l’Avenir, then last year took second in the Presidential Tour of Turkey and a very unexpected third overall behind Janez Brajkovic (RadioShack) and Alberto Contador (Astana) in the Criterium du Dauphiné. At just 21 years of age, it was a superb performance.
His goal heading into the Tour of California was to win the race; that hasn’t worked out, with RadioShack’s Chris Horner and Levi Leipheimer being too strong. It led to a revised strategy on yesterday’s climb.
“I didn’t want to make the same mistake I made on Sierra by trying to stay with the big guys,” he said. “I figured if I stayed more within my own rhythm, I could hold on for a high placing rather than trying to stay with the best for a long time and then losing five minutes in the last couple of kilometres.”
He is fifth overall in the race, 3 minutes 23 seconds behind Horner.
Despite not contending for the final victory, he said that his confidence and ambition will remain high for the events to come. “I was shooting for the moon when I said that I would come here to win this race. But that doesn’t change my goals for the future. I will go to the next race with the same goal of trying to win…maybe I will just move that little bit closer.
The Amgen Tour of California ends today with a 132.4 kilometre stage from Santa Clarita to Thousand Oaks.