BMC rider talks to Cyclingnews about the responsibility of being the best rider in the USA
Image 1 of 7
Tejay van Garderen: Don't call me an icon(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tejay van Garderen shows the effort of stage 4 at Volta a Catalunya(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Tejay van Garderen celebrates on the stage 4 podium at Ruta del Sol.(Image credit: Bettini)
Tejay van Garderen (BMC) one of the favourites for Tirreno-Adriatico(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Tejay van Garderen at the San Diego Low Speed Wind Tunnel(Image credit: Tim De Fresco)
Final podium (l-r): Tejay van Garderen (BMC), Chris Froome (Team Sky), Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
A very happy Tejay van Garderen (BMC)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
He is arguably the USA’s best chance of success at the Tour de France in over a decade but as he tells Cyclingnews, Tejay van Garderen doesn’t see himself as a national cycling icon. Not yet, anyway.
Despite consistency in stage races he is 29th in the UCI’s WorldTour rankings. He is the USA’s highest ranked rider with Lawson Craddock the next run on the ladder in 58th spot. There’s a collective of talented US riders but there’s not one star that fans and sponsors can gravitate to.
“It’s a pretty big ask to make me out to be an icon. I’m not that. It would be cool if I could become that one day but I want people to be fans of the sport, not just an individual. That’s got to be what it’s about, right?” van Garderen suggests.
Like 7-Eleven in the eighties
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
