Tour Team News: BMC Racing Team Protects Evans on Stage 2

The BMC Racing Team took to the front near the end of Monday’s second stage of the Tour de France to keep defending champion Cadel Evans out of trouble.

Marcus Burghardt, George Hincapie, Manuel Quinziato and Michael Schär all took turns in the final 15 kilometers shepherding Evans through the run-in to Tournai, Belgium, at the end of the 207.5 kilometer race. “It’s hard to stay in position when everybody wants to be in the front,” Burghardt said. “I think we handled it well today and it is a big advantage with an incredibly fast bike.”

Tejay van Garderen (41st) was the BMC Racing Team’s first finisher and retained the white jersey as best young rider. Evans (78th place) and Philippe Gilbert (91st) also finished in the same time as the winner to keep their top 10 positions overall. Van Garderen is fourth, 10 seconds back, Gilbert is seventh (at 13 seconds) and Evans eighth (at 17 seconds). Van Garderen said he’ll continue to make looking after Evans his primary objective. “As long as I can stay close to him in the final and protect him in the mountains and make sure he’s (finishing) in the same time, then maybe the white jersey can stay on my shoulders,” he said.

BMC Racing Team Directeur Sportif John Lelangue said Tuesday’s 197 km race will be more difficult than Stage 1, when a steep climb near the end whittled the peloton down to just a leading trio. “It’s like a small classic – a mix between Liège–Bastogne–Liège and Flèche Wallonne, with many ups and downs,” Lelangue said. “It’s a stage where we will need to stay safe and I think we will see a beautiful show in the last hour of racing.”