With today being the September 1st deadline for the announcement of the future destinations of HTC Highroad riders, the BMC Racing Team has confirmed that it has secured the signatures of two big names from the team.
American rider Tejay Van Garderen is one, the 23 year old’s signing confirmed shortly after finishing third overall and holding yellow in the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. He wore the yellow jersey in the race and this, his stage win in the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah plus placings such as third in the 2010 Critérium du Dauphiné, second in this year’s Volta ao Algarve and fifth in the Tour of California mean he is one of the most promising of the young US riders.
Pinotti is one of the best time trialists in the peloton, having won five Italian titles and a TT stage of the Giro d’Italia, and the former Tour of Ireland winner is also one of the most respected riders in the bunch. The 35 year old is both a strong rider and also a very good team-mate, and will add strength to BMC Racing’s lineup.
He’s looking forward to the experience. “It's really a team that's been growing and developing fast in the last two years,” he said. “I'm an experienced rider who can share that experience with the younger riders while I hope to also find a few opportunities for myself to achieve some personal goals. I also wanted to be on the team that's on the forefront of technology so I can perform at my best in my specialty at the Olympic Games.”
Pinotti helped the HTC Highroad team win the team time trial stage of this year’s Giro d’Italia, wearing the pink jersey as a result, and will also add strength to this discipline with BMC.
Van Garderen is continuing to progress and has set his goals higher for next year. “I'd really like to go after the GC at races like the Tour de Suisse or Paris-Nice,” he said, encouraged by how stage races of that length have already gone for him. “The thing I like about the BMC Racing Team is how there's already a strong program and it's set to continue well into the future.”
He joins another big US talent there, Taylor Phinney, as well as Tour de France champion Cadel Evans and US veteran George Hincapie.
BMC Racing Team president and general manager Jim Ochowicz has already got one of the strongest teams for next season, having Evans, world champion Thor Hushovd and Classics supremo Philippe Gilbert on board, and knows that Van Garderen and Pinotti add further strength.
“Marco has been the Italian national time trial champion five of the past seven years and brings power to our team time trials, as well as incredible talent in the mountains,” he said. “We believe he will be a great asset to the team in many ways.
“Tejay is a gifted young talent with a complete set of skills that will allow him to one day be a contender in the Grand Tours. His time trialing continues to improve, as is his climbing. With Cadel (Evans) acting as his mentor, the road to success should come quickly.”
It is not yet clear how long the contracts are for, but the team has said that they are for ‘2012 and beyond,’ suggesting terms of at least two years.