Ahead of the start of the Critérium du Dauphiné, Tejay van Garderen (BMC) has said that, while he wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to take the overall victory, proving himself against his Tour de France rivals is his primary goal.
“The Dauphiné comes at the right time to find the rhythm that I need. I have already seen the stage of Pra Loup and I really like it. If I see the opportunity to attack and win the Dauphiné, I'll go for it, but it is also a race to test the rivals before the Tour, to see where they are, to study them,” van Garderen told the official website.
“The Dauphine is a win-win. It's always a learning experience. In the end, the result is secondary to looking to build the form for July. It is a mental game. At the last two Tour de France that I finished in fifth place I was only 13th in the Dauphiné.”
The Dauphiné is Van Garderen’s first race since Liège-Bastogne-Liège at the end of April.
Coledan hit by car
After making it through three weeks of a brutal Giro d’Italia, Marco Coledan (Trek Factory Racing) was involved in a collision with a car during training. The Italian was just four kilometres from home when he was hit by an SUV. Coledan, who finished last in the Giro’s general classification, said that his injuries were not too bad however.
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“I was coming out of a roundabout, while the driver had just entered. He was going fast enough, otherwise I would have avoided him,” Coledan explained to the Italian paper La Tribuna di Treviso. “When he saw the bike, he asked me if I did it for work. I have cuts and bruises, but nothing serious. I'll make some assessment: me and the bike.”
No Tour for Monfort
Despite a strong performance at the Giro d’Italia, Maxime Monfort will not be part of Lotto-Soudal’s Tour de France team. Monfort finished 11th overall, one place ahead of his team leader Jürgen Van Den Broeck and Lotto’s best finisher. Monfort will be riding the Tour de Suisse before focussing on the Vuelta a España later in the season.
“I will not be on @letour this year. Disappointed but I understand the arguments of @Lotto_Soudal. @tds next week then @lavuelta,” Monfort wrote on twitter.
Wippert wins in Korea
Wouter Wippert (Drapac Pro Cycling) sprinted to his fourth victory this season on the opening stage of the Tour de Korea. An early break was given six minutes, but they were not strong enough to hold off the might of the sprinters’ teams and it went down to a bunch gallop. Wippert, who won the final stage of the Tour Down Under in January, rewarded his team’s efforts with an emphatic victory.
"The team rode big all day, so this is a team effort," Wippert said. "We were aggressive from the start to the finish and this is the way we wanted to start this tour. I am happy with my sprint today and it is a good way to start the week."
Wippert will wear the leader’s jersey on tomorrow’s stage two, click here for the stage 1 results.
