LA ROCHE-SUR-YON, France – For years, Tejay van Garderen has been the United States’ best hope of winning the Tour de France.
But for this edition of the world’s biggest cycling race, Van Garderen is tasked with doing all he can for teammate Richie Porte to fight for the title.
“It’s different. It’s certainly less pressure, and when you have a leader like Richie, it’s a role that is easy to jump into,” Van Garderen said on Thursday, two days before the race starts in western France.
Van Garderen’s first job will be to do his part on the team time trial on Stage 3. A good result by BMC would boost Porte’s chances of ending Chris Froome’s dominance at the Tour.
His next challenge as his team’s No. 2 will be to protect Porte on the climbs in the Alps and Pyrenees, where only the hardiest riders can keep up.
Van Garderen, who finished the Tour of California second in May, showed he can protect Porte in the mountains when he helped the Australian win the Tour de Suisse last month by reeling in rivals when they attacked.
“He already performed well in that role, especially in the Tour de Suisse, when (Mikel) Landa and (Nairo) Quintana launched attacks,” BMC sports director Fabio Baldato told The Associated Press. “It’s a new role, but he’s well established within the team.”
When acting as BMC’s leader, Van Garderen finished the Tour in fifth place in 2012 and 2014.
In 2015, he was riding in third place and aiming for a spot on the podium in Paris when he fell ill and was forced to withdraw.
Those ascending results generated expectations that Van Garderen could one day become the first American to cleanly win the Tour since Greg LeMond in 1989 and 1990. Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis were later stripped of their Tour titles for having doped.
But when Porte joined BMC in 2016, the American team said Porte and Van Garderen were the co-leaders at the Tour. Porte finished a career-best fifth in the race, while Van Garderen was 29th. Van Garderen skipped last year’s Tour to ride in the Giro d’Italia.
Baldato said it was the 29-year-old Van Garderen who wanted to play wingman this time around.
“He asked to come to the Tour as a support rider. We call him a teammate ‘di lusso’ (an extra special teammate),” Baldato told The AP.
“The pressure that came with being the leader wasn’t easy to handle. Now that he’s free of that pressure, he’s got less weight on his shoulders.
“It will free his mind up and make him ride better.”
Porte knows what it means to be a shield-bearer. He was Froome’s ally when he won his first two Tour titles in 2013 and 2015 for Team Sky.
At 33, Porte also knows this may be his last chance to win an elusive Grand Tour. He was in contention for the Tour until he crashed out last year.
When asked if he would be prepared to take over if Porte again falters, Van Garderen replied with a curt, “I will do what I am told.”
“(Porte) is in great shape and he has a good shot to get on the podium in Paris,” Van Garderen said, “and I am looking forward to helping him to be able to do that.”
AP Sports Writer Andrew Dampf contributed to this report.
Tour de France stages
July 7 – Stage 1: Noirmoutier-en-l’Ile to Fontenay-le-Comte, flat, 124.9 miles
July 8 – Stage 2: Mouilleron-Saint-Germain to La Roche-sur-Yon, flat, 113.4 miles
July 9 – Stage 3: Cholet, team time trial, 22.1 miles
July 10 – Stage 4: La Baule to Sarzeau, flat, 121.2 miles
July 11 – Stage 5: Lorient to Quimper, hilly, 127.1 miles
July 12 – Stage 6: Brest to Mur de Bretagne Guerledan, hilly, 112.5 miles
July 13 – Stage 7: Fougeres to Chartres, flat, 143.5 miles
July 14 – Stage 8: Dreux to Amiens Metropole, flat, 112.5 miles
July 15 – Stage 9: Arras Citadelle to Roubaix, hilly, 97.2 miles
July 16 – Rest: Annecy
July 17 – Stage 10: Annecy to Le Grand-Bornand, high mountain, 98.5 miles
July 18 – Stage 11: Albertville to La Rosiere Espace San Bernardo, high mountain, 67.4 miles
July 19 – Stage 12: Bourg-Saint-Maurice les Arcs to Alpe d’Huez, high mountain, 109.1 miles
July 20 – Stage 13: Bourg d’Oisans to Valence, flat, 105.3 miles
July 21 – Stage 14: Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Mende, hilly, 116.8 miles
July 22 – Stage 15: Millau to Carcassonne, hilly, 112.8 miles
July 23 – Rest: Carcassonne
July 24 – Stage 16: Carcassonne to Bagneres-de-Luchon, mountain, 135.5 miles
July 25 – Stage 17: Bagneres-de-Luchon to Saint-Lary-Soulan, high mountain, 40.4 miles
July 26 – Stage 18: Trie-sur-Baise to Pau, flat, 106.3 miles
July 27 – Stage 19: Lourdes to Laruns, high mountain, 124.6 miles
July 28 – Stage 20: Saint-Pee-sur-Nivelle to Espelette, individual time trial, 19.3 miles
July 29 – Stage 21: Houilles to Paris Champs-Elysees, flat, 72.1 miles
Total – 2082 miles
