Tour Team News: BMC’s Van Garderen stays fifth

BMC’s Tejay van Garderen will wear the white jersey of best young rider into Paris for the BMC Racing Team Sunday at the Tour de France after finishing seventh in the final time trial and solidify his hold on fifth place overall.

Van Garderen Started Fast

In the 53.5-kilometer race, van Garderen was third-fastest at the first intermediate time check (14.0 km), sixth at the second (30.5 km) and finished 2:34 off the winning time. Starting three minutes behind teammate Cadel Evans, the two pulled even with each other aboard their BMC timemachine TM01s with roughly 20 kilometers to go. But van Garderen said it was not a “passing of the torch” moment.

“I still think he (Evans) has another Tour win in him next year and I’d be happy to help him,” he said. Van Garderen said he was spurred on by thoughts of people affected by the shootings at a movie theater Friday in Aurora, Colorado.

“I want to dedicate this to all the people who lost their lives in Colorado with the shooting there,” he said. “That was devastating news. That was close to my home in Boulder and I just want to say my thoughts are with them and I’ll be thinking of them when I get to Paris tomorrow.”

Evans Now Seventh Overall
Bradley Wiggins led a 1-2-5 finish by Sky Procycling to increase his overall lead over teammate Christopher Froome to 3:21. Van Garderen is 11:04 back with one day of the three week race to go while Evans is seventh, 15:51 back, after finishing 5:54 off the winning time.

The 2011 Tour de France champion said he rode Saturday’s stage hoping to hold onto sixth place on the general classification. “We went in with really high expectations, but as the race went on my chances lessened and lessened and I had to adjust to that,” Evans said.

“By the time today came, I was just hoping to hold my place on GC (general classification). I started the day empty and a few other days empty so it was just about like riding more within my limits. If you’re empty, there’s not really a great deal you can do.”

Hincapie Proud
George Hincapie, who is on the verge of finishing his 17th Tour de France, said he is exhausted, a bit sore from a crash earlier this week in the Pyrenees, but will still enjoy his final ride into Paris after announcing his retirement earlier this year.

“I could have never imagined doing 17 Tour de Frances,” he said. “It’s something I’m proud of. I’ve spent so much time in the sport. I’ve given everything to the sport. I’ve always wanted to promote the sport and done what I thought is best for the sport.”

The three-time U.S. national road champion said he did take a moment to look around on his way to a 34th place finish, 4:57 back. “I just tried to soak it all in,” he said. “I tried to appreciate all the fans on the side of the road. A lot of emotions were going through me during that time trial.”