Mechanical drops neo-pro from fifth to ninth in Algarve finale
Tejay Van Garderen (HTC - Columbia), right, in action at the Challenge Mallorca. (Image credit: Franklin Tello)
Despite bad luck in the time trial finale of the Volta ao Algarve, Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Columbia) held onto a top 10 spot overall in his first stage race of 2010.
Van Garderen went into the stage lying fifth overall but as a talented time trialist a podium place wasn't out of the question. At the first time check the American was down on stage winner Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) but a mechanical problem forced him to swap to a road bike and he slipped to ninth overall.
"I felt good but I didn't have the best of luck. After about seven kilometres my bars became loose and I had to get a bike change. I was feeling good and got on a road bike but to drop from fifth to ninth is a little disappointing, but that's bike racing I guess," Van Garderen told Cyclingnews.
"I was on my way to a good ride and I think I was around the top five or pretty close to it but I don't want to speculate too much."
Van Garderen started the day 35 seconds down on race leader Contador (Astana) but tied with Olympic road champion Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel - Euskadi). "I didn't really have any expectations," Van Garderen said. "I knew that there were some good guys ahead of me and some good guys behind me but I wanted to keep my top five in GC and maybe even move up a place. The podium was a long shot but I was thinking about that. I'm the kind of guy who likes to swing for the fence.
"Ninth on GC when you look at the field isn't too bad. I didn't expect to do as well as I did but it's still kind of bittersweet with the mechanical issue. I'm happy with where my form is, I can't be too disappointed."
Van Garderen cemented a strong overall position on stage three from Castro Marim to Malhão. The stage was won by Contador but Van Garderen finished fifth, 25 seconds behind the two-time Tour de France champion, and ahead of established riders such as Andreas Klöden (RadioShack) and Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) on the stage's mountain finish.
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"When I looked around I was a little bit taken aback with the résumés I was up against," said Van Garderen. "I looked to my left and there's the Olympic champion and I look to my right and there's Levi Leipheimer and I look up the road and Contador is just a few seconds ahead. It was incredible to be up there with those guys and that day was certainly a special day for me.
"I did see him attack but I didn't think about going with him. He just blew away from everyone. I'm not a super-explosive rider so I was trying to keep the tempo and stay within my limits. I just tried to stay calm."
Van Garderen will race Omloop Het Nieuwsblad next weekend followed by Strade Bianche, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, Tour of Turkey, Liège - Bastogne - Liège, Tour of California and Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré.
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.
