Van Garderen offers U.S. hope
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 careerbest 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.
Last year he was in contention for the Tour until he crashed out.
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 and I am looking forward to helping him to be able to do that.”