The American and his BMC squad look on the bright side after stage 6
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Tejay van Garderen (BMC)(Image credit: Getty Images)
Tejay van Garderen (BMC) puts on a brave face having lost his lead in the 2018 Tour of California on stage 6 to South Lake Tahoe (Image credit: Getty Images)
BMC's Tejay van Garderen (BMC) gives it everything to protect his yellow jersey, followed by Sky's Tao Geoghegan Hart(Image credit: Getty Images)
Race leader Tejay van Garderen (BMC) has time for a chat during stage 5 of the the 2018 Tour of California(Image credit: Getty Images)
Tejay van Garderen (BMC) concentrates in the start house ahead of the stage 4 TT at the 2018 Tour of California(Image credit: Getty Images)
Tejay van Garderen's BMC teammates keep him well protected on stage 6 of the 2018 Tour of California, but Team Sky are ready to pounce(Image credit: Jonathan Devich/Getty Images)
Tejay van Garderen's BMC teammates shepherd the race leader through stage 5 of the 2018 Tour of California(Image credit: Getty Images)
Quite understandably loathe to talk to reporters at the finish line in South Lake Tahoe, van Garderen later said on BMC Racing's website that he was happy that his team had done everything to keep him in a race-winning position.
"It was a hard day, and BMC rode brilliantly," van Garderen said. "I was isolated on the final climb where Bernal made his move, and I fought as hard as I could. On days like this, the only thing you can do is tip your hat to your competitor. He is a young talent with a bright future, and I was simply overmatched.
"I'm happy with my form," he continued, "and I hope to continue this trajectory into my next events."
While van Garderen may not have been keen to elaborate further on not having been able to follow Bernal, team directeur sportif Jackson Stewart tried to put a more positive spin on how the race had gone as a whole.
"We started the stage well," said Stewart. "We controlled the race early on with Nathan Van Hooydonck and Danilo Wyss, and there was a pretty good mix in the nine-rider breakaway so we were happy to let that go.
"We controlled the gap and our guys worked hard. Towards the end, Team Sky came up to the front and it was clear that they wanted to bring it back. On that penultimate climb, there were really two levels. There was Tejay's level, and then there was Bernal's level. We started to lose time, and the race slipped away from us. There's not much you can do when a rider is just that much better on the climb.
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"I don't want to be too down about today, though," Stewart said. "We gave our best out there. Not just Tejay; the whole team did their best. I think that at this race we showed that we're on a whole other level when it comes to time trials, and Bernal, and Team Sky, showed the same, only in the mountains. And the race had more mountains than time trials. Of course, we're a little down about it, but we needn't be. We need to be happy that we won a stage and that we're on the podium at the biggest race in America. It's not ideal, but once you stop to think about it, I think we can be pleased."
The Tour of California culminates with a flat stage for the sprinters in Sacramento on Saturday, where van Garderen is set to finish second overall to Bernal, with EF-Drapac's Dani Martinez third.
Van Garderen will return to Europe to race at the Tour de Suisse in early June before riding in support of Richie Porte at the Tour de France, which starts on July 7.
