The American had dropped out of the overall contention on stage 6 when he conceded time in the snow and rain at Amden but bounced back the very next day to win at Solden and resurrect his hopes of a high GC finish.
The final stage – although shortened to just 57 kilometres due to poor weather and concerns over rider safety – still provived the GC contenders with the terrain to attack each other, but overnight leader Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Pro Team) effectively nullified the race with an aggressive approach over the main climb of the day. Van Garderen was able to follow the majority of the accelerations and finished the day in fifth place, behind stage winner Jarlinson Pantano (IAM Cycling).
"I had confidence from how I was climbing the other days but Lopez was really strong out there. I couldn’t even hold his wheel so we had to pull him back on the descent. I was trying to play it there for the sprint but the other guys were a bit too quick. My legs were a little bit frozen. But I’m definitely happy with how the day went.
"We have finished the Tour de Suisse well. Today Tejay was attacking, he showed that he has the morale and the legs," said the team’s director at the race, Fabio Baldato.
"We are leaving the Tour de Suisse confident. If you take out the bad day that Tejay had when he lost time, then it was a great race for him. We won two big stages, with Darwin Atapuma and the queen stage with Tejay, so it was a good week. Now we shift the focus to the Tour de France."
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