Van Garderen, Pinotti and Martin lead stage race group
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The HTC-Highroad bus outside the team's base in Mallorca, Spain(Image credit: Daniel Simms)
A tired Tejay Van Garderen listens as the day's ride is explained(Image credit: Daniel Simms)
Tony Martin has a mechanic make some last minute adjustments(Image credit: Daniel Simms)
Tejay Van Garderen arrives on the scene ahead of the group training ride(Image credit: Daniel Simms)
Craig Lewis is one of the long-standing riders at HTC(Image credit: Daniel Simms)
Man in black: Marco Pinotti is part of HTC's stage race group(Image credit: Daniel Simms)
Patrick Gretsch (HTC-Highroad)(Image credit: Daniel Simms)
Leigh Howard (HTC-Highroad)(Image credit: Daniel Simms)
The first group plan out their first ride of the team camp(Image credit: Daniel Simms)
The HTC-Highroad, Specialized bikes(Image credit: Daniel Simms)
(Image credit: Daniel Simms)
All systems go: HTC-Highroad riders make sure they're set up before the ride(Image credit: Daniel Simms)
HTC-Highroad touched down in Mallorca, Spain on Monday for the start of their European training camp. The American team is currently split, with a number of its riders in Australia at the Tour Down, but the likes of Marco Pinotti, Leigh Howard and Tejay Van Garderen all began their 2011 European adventures today with a training ride.
The riders split into two groups, with Howard and new signings Caleb Fairly and Matthew Brammeier in one echelon, while Pinotti, Tony Martin and Tejay Van Garderen helped to make up what constituted a purely stage-racing bunch of riders.
Tejay Van Garderen is now in his second season with the team and after a promising debut is in contention for a ride at this year’s Tour de France. Before that he will compete in the Amgen Tour of California.
“I’ll go to California with high intentions for GC,” he told Cyclingnews.
As for his chances of a Tour slot, he added: "We’ll see. Right now we’re talking as if I am doing it but we’ll have to see how the form is for me and everyone else and what kind of team we want to bring."
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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.
