Tejay van Garderen

Tejay van Garderen

Van Garderen at the 2013 Paris–Nice
Personal information
Full name Tejay van Garderen
Born August 12, 1988
Tacoma, Washington, United States
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Weight 72 kg (159 lb; 11 st)[1]
Team information
Current team BMC Racing Team
Discipline Road
Role Rider
Rider type All-rounder
Amateur team(s)
2004–2005 Rio Grande (Fort Collins, CO)
2005–2006 Team 5280 (Boulder, CO)
2007 VMG Racing/USA National Team
Professional team(s)
2008–2009 Rabobank Continental Team
2010–2011 Team HTC-Columbia
2012– BMC Racing Team
Major wins

Grand Tours

Tour de France
Young rider classification (2012)

Stage races

Circuito Montañes (2009)
Tour of California (2013)
USA Pro Cycling Challenge (2013, 2014)
Infobox last updated on
September 21, 2014

Tejay van Garderen (born August 12, 1988) is an American professional cyclist for BMC Racing Team.[2] He lives in Lucca, Tuscany, Italy, during the season.[3]

Early life

Van Garderen was born in Tacoma, Washington, but spent most of his childhood in Bozeman, Montana. His father is Dutch and he speaks the Dutch language quite well.[4] He began riding at 10. By 14, he nearly beat two hours at the Mount Evans Hill Climb, a 28-mile climb gaining nearly 7,000 feet.[5] He won 10 junior national titles in road (road race, criterium and TT) and cyclo-cross.[6] Two of his early teams were the Team Rio Grande Racing developmental squad (2004–2005; Fort Collins, Colorado)[7] and Team 5280 Magazine developmental squad (2005–2006, now part of Cannondale-Garmin; Boulder, Colorado).[8]

Career

Under-23 years (2007–2009)

Van Garderen's first big senior race was at age 18 in the 2007 Tour of California as a part of the national team. He pulled out on stage 4.[9] He rode in the U.S. and Europe in 2007 and came 20th in the Tour de l'Avenir.

Van Garderen joined the Rabobank Continental Team in 2008. He lived in the Netherlands and came second in the Flèche du Sud and Circuito Montañes. He won a stage of the Tour de l'Avenir and came 24th in the Under-23 world road championship in Varese, Italy.

Van Garderen joined Team HTC-Columbia the following year.[10]

HTC-Columbia (2010–2011)

Van Garderen came to a team with most wins in 2009 thanks to prolific sprinters Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel. He finished 9th in his first stage race, the Volta ao Algarve, climbing to 5th place on the third stage to the Alto do Malhao summit. In the 2010 Tour of Turkey, he came second on two stages and second overall, 29 seconds behind Giovanni Visconti.

Van Garderen supported leader Michael Rogers over the 6th and 8th stages of the 2010 Tour of California. He finished 28th overall and Rogers won.

Van Garderen started the 2010 Critérium du Dauphiné as joint leader of Team HTC-Columbia with Kanstantsin Siutsou and Peter Velits. After nearly upsetting Alberto Contador in the prologue, he came 4th in the Stage 3 time trial to move to 2nd overall. He lost time on mountain stages and finished 3rd.

Van Garderen rode a strong Vuelta a Espana with having a very strong first 2 weeks of the race. His level of performance dropped after that but was still a valuable domestique to Peter Velits, who went on to a third place overall in the race.

In 2011, van Garderen got second place on stage 3 of the Volta ao Algarve[11] and second place in the opening time trial in the Tour de Suisse (behind Fabian Cancellara of Leopard Trek).[12] His strong showing in the 2011 Tour of California also earned him the best young rider jersey. He was chosen to be a part of the 2011 Tour de France squad. This was van Garderen's first Tour de France and he was riding in support of Tony Martin and Peter Velits.[13] In the 8th Stage, van Garderen won enough points on a Category 2 climb to earn a King of the Mountains jersey and Most Aggressive Rider honors. He was the first American to wear the King of the Mountains jersey in the history of the Tour de France (Greg LeMond briefly led the mountains classification during the 1986 Tour de France, but since he was also the overall leader at the time, he did not wear the mountains jersey). During his dramatic stage 8 ride, he was referred to as the "Bozeman Boss" by commentator Phil Liggett.[14] He would finish in 82nd place. At the Tour of Utah, van Garderen won the time trial in the third stage.[15]

BMC Racing Team (2012–)

Van Garderen during the ninth stage's individual time trial, at the 2012 Tour de France.
Final 1km of the 2013 Tour of California, San Jose, Stage 6 – Individual Time Trial

After HTC-Highroad was disbanded, van Garderen joined BMC Racing Team along with his HTC team-mate Marco Pinotti.[2] Van Garderen won the young rider's jersey at Paris–Nice in early March,[16] having held the jersey for the entire race.

Van Garderen was selected for the Tour de France as one of the main domestiques for defending champion Cadel Evans. He enjoyed a strong first week, coming fourth in the prologue and wearing the white jersey – for the best-placed rider aged 25 or under in the general classification – until stage 7, where he lost time on the first summit finish of the Tour. He regained the jersey with fourth place on Stage 9, an individual time trial. On Stage 11, van Garderen attempted to help Evans in an unsuccessful long range attack by breaking away from the yellow jersey group minutes before his leader did, but the attempt orchestrated by BMC Racing Team was foiled. He proved stronger than Evans on that day, pacing his leader up the final climb. He would go on to finish in fifth place overall while becoming the third American to win the Best Young rider classification, after Greg LeMond in 1984 and Andrew Hampsten in 1986. In August, van Garderen finished second in the USA Pro Cycling Challenge behind Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Sharp).[17] He had previously won the second stage of the race in a two-men sprint with Vande Velde, earning the yellow jersey in the process.[18] He would surrender the jersey to his fellow countryman the next day, take it back on stage 4 and finally lose it on stage 6.

Van Garderen opened his 2013 campaign with the Tour de San Luis, where he finished second in the overall standings. He also showed strong appearances as the European cycling season opened in March, finishing Paris–Nice in fourth,[19] and Critérium International in third place.[20] In May, van Garderen won the first major stage race of his career, the Tour of California.[21] He performed well in all the key stages, coming in second at stage two's hilltop finish,[22] then winning the individual time trial on stage 6.[23] He topped it off by defending the lead on stage 7, a mountaintop finish to Mount Diablo.[24] He somewhat lacked form at the 2013 Tour de France, finishing in 45th position.[25] He then went on to win the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, which included a lot of high altitude racing across Colorado.[26]

In 2014 Van Garderen finished fifth in the Tour de France.[27]

In 2015, Van Garderen reaped his first victory of the season by winning the fourth stage of the Volta a Catalunya, which was the queen stage. However, he was too far down in the overall standings to have an impact on the general classification.[28]

Palmarès

2000
1st, Junior National Criterium, 10–12
1st, Junior National Time Trial, 10–12
1st, Junior National Road Race, 10–12
2002
1st, Junior National Cyclocross, 13–14
2003
1st, Junior National Cyclocross, 15–16
1st, Junior National Time Trial, 15–16
2004
1st, Junior National Road Race, 15–16
1st, Junior National Time Trial, 15–16
2nd, Junior National Criterium, 15–16
2005
1st, Junior National Criterium, 17–18
2nd, Junior National Road Race, 17–18
3rd, Junior National Time Trial, 17–18
2006
1st, Junior National Time Trial, 17–18
2008
1st, Stage 5 (TTT), Volta a Lleida
2nd, Overall, Circuito Montañes
8th, Overall, Tour de l'Avenir
1st, Stage 9
2009
1st Overall Circuito Montañes
2nd Overall Tour de l'Avenir
3rd Overall Olympia's Tour
1st Stages 1 & 5
2010
1st, Stage 1 (TTT), Vuelta a Espana
2nd, Overall, Tour of Turkey
3rd, Overall, Criterium du Dauphine
4th, Overall, Tour de l'Ain
1st, Young rider classification
9th, Overall, Volta ao Algarve
2011
1st, Stage 3 (ITT), Tour of Utah
2nd, Overall, Volta ao Algarve
3rd, Overall, USA Pro Cycling Challenge
1st, Young rider classification
5th, Overall, Tour of California
1st, Young rider classification
2012
2nd, National Time Trial Championships
2nd, Overall, USA Pro Cycling Challenge
1st, Stage 2
2nd, World Team Time Trial Championships
4th, Overall, Tour of California
4th, UCI World Time Trial Championships
5th, Overall Tour de France
1st, Young rider classification
5th, Overall, Paris–Nice
1st, Young rider classification
7th, Overall, Volta ao Algarve
2013
1st Overall Tour of California
1st Stage 6 (ITT)
1st Overall USA Pro Cycling Challenge
1st Stage 5 (ITT)
2nd, Overall, Tour de San Luis
3rd, Overall, Critérium International
1st, Young rider classification
4th, Overall, Paris–Nice
7th, Overall, Tour de Suisse
2014
1st World Team Time Trial Championships
1st Overall USA Pro Cycling Challenge
1st Best Colorado rider classification[29]
1st Stages 3 & 6 (ITT)
2nd, Overall, Tour of Oman
3rd, Overall, Volta a Catalunya
1st, Stage 4
5th, Overall, Tour de France
6th, Overall, Tour of the Basque Country
2015
1st Stage 4 Volta a Catalunya
2nd Overall Tour of Oman[30]

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Pink jersey Giro
Yellow jersey Tour 82 5 45 5
golden jersey Vuelta 35
Legend
DSQDisqualified
IPIn progress
WDWithdrew

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Tejay van Garderen profile".
  2. 2.0 2.1 "BMC signs Pinotti and Van Garderen". Cycling News (Future Publishing Limited). September 1, 2011. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  3. Cafe Chat: Tejay Van Garderen, HTC's Young American, PodiumCafe, April 26, 2010
  4. "De Nederlandse stamboom van Tejay Van Garderen". ZIE.nl. 16 July 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  5. Mt Evans 7/25/03. bicyclerace.com
  6. Teejay Van Garderen Interview, Velocity Nation
  7. About The Team | Team Rio Grande. Riograndecycling.com. Retrieved on 2011-08-22.
  8. www.cyclingnews.com – the world centre of cycling. Autobus.cyclingnews.com. Retrieved on 2011-08-22.
  9. Two world champs go one-two in SLO. Tour of California – 2.HC USA, February 18–25, 2007. Stage 4 – February 22: Seaside to San Luis Obispo, 213.4km. CyclingNews
  10. American Tejay Van Garderen will join Columbia-Highroad next year, VeloNews
  11. Tejay Van Garderen – Team HTC – Highroad. Highroadsports.com. Retrieved on 2011-08-22.
  12. AFP: Cancellara wins Tour of Switzerland opening TT. Google.com (2011-06-09). Retrieved on 2011-08-22.
  13. Van Garderen To Support Cavendish And Martin At Tour De France. Cyclingnews.com (2011-06-29). Retrieved on 2011-08-22.
  14. One and Done? | Bicycling Magazine. Bicycling.com. Retrieved on 2011-08-22.
  15. Tour of Utah: Tejay Van Garderen gets a birthday present with stage win | The Salt Lake Tribune. Sltrib.com. Retrieved on 2011-08-22.
  16. "Wiggins not so easy on Eze". Paris–Nice (Amaury Sport Organisation). March 11, 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  17. "Vande Velde stuns Leipheimer, taking overall victory". Cycling News (Future Publishing Limited). August 27, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
  18. John Henderson (August 22, 2012). "Tejay van Garderen wins second stage of USA Pro Challenge". TheDenverPost (2012 The Denver Post). Retrieved October 25, 2012.
  19. "Paris–Nice 2013 – Race Report". Cyclingen (Cyclingen). March 16, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  20. "Chris Froome wins Criterium International in Impressive SKY One-Two". Cyclingen (Cyclingen). March 24, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  21. "Peter Sagan takes finale as Tejay van Garderen wins 2013 Amgen Tour of California". VeloNews (Competitor Group, Inc.). 19 May 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  22. Kyle Moore (13 May 2013). "Tour of California: Janier Acevedo conquers hellish stage two summit finish". VeloNation (VeloNation LLC). Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  23. "Tejay van Garderen wins Tour of California 6th stage". USA Today. The Associated Press. 17 May 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  24. Laura Weislo (18 May 2013). "Tour of California: Konig king of Mt Diablo". Cyclingnews.com (Future plc). Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  25. Daniel Benson (21 July 2013). "Kittel wins on the Champs-Elysees". Cyclingnews.com (Future plc). Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  26. "Tejay van Garderen wins USA Pro Challenge". USA Today. Associated Press. 25 August 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  27. "Classements à l'issue de l'étape 21". Le Tour de France (Amaury Sport Organization). July 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  28. "Volta a Catalunya: van Garderen wins queen stage". Cyclingnews.com (Future plc). 26 March 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  29. Malach, Pat (24 August 2014). "Howes wins USA Pro Challenge stage in Denver". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  30. O'Shea, Sadhbh (22 February 2015). "Brändle wins final stage of Tour of Oman". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 23 February 2015.

External links

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