TEJAY VAN GARDEREN
BMC's American on the 2012 Tour and getting hit in the face with a log in Romandie
What’s your favourite race? The Volta a Catalunya. It’s on big roads, it’s usually good weather, I have pretty good results there in the past and it’s a race that’s a little bit away from the media attention – it’s not as big as Paris-Nice or Tirreno but it’s still a big race. It’s WorldTour, it’s historical; a good vibe.
What’s your favourite climb?
The Col de Turini - it’s a climb outside of Nice that I did a lot in training when I was living there. It’s a beautiful climb and it’s hard, steep and long.
Who do you think is the best domestique in the peloton?
Micky Schär. He can do it all – he can climb, he can do the cobblestones, you can throw him in a team time trial and he will never leave your side. He is as loyal as they come.
Who has been your funniest team-mate?
Taylor Phinney. He’s a clown. He’s matured after everything he’s been through, but he’s still a crack-up.
What’s your secret talent?
I’m really good at hacky sack. It’s an American thing. It’s a small bag of sand that you kick about and do tricks with. I can stall it.
Who do you think will win the Tour in five years’ time?
Warren Barguil maybe, if he switches focus from stage hunting and the polka dot jersey and goes for the GC.
What result are you proudest of up to now?
The white jersey in the Tour when I was fifth in 2012. It was unexpected and the feeling that I got on the podium in Paris – you can’t replicate that. I’d love to get back there and take in that view again. Who is your favourite person to follow on social media? Stephen A. Smith – he’s a sport broadcaster for ESPN. He has this show called FirstTake. He’s just this really charismatic African American, says it like it is, no holds barred.
What was the last app that you downloaded?
The Vueling app because I had a bunch of Vueling flights. I don’t have printers!
What’s the best prize you’ve ever been given in a race?
For a stage I won on Sölden in the Tour de Suisse, I got this gigantic wedge of cheese. I think there was a picture of me on the podium pretending to take a bite of it.
What’s the toughest day you’ve had on the bike?
The Giro in 2017, on the stage to Bagno di Romagna. I struggled through the TT and lost heaps of time, and from that point I was like ‘the GC is done’. Then this next stage I was in the grupetto. It was long, it was hard; it was going through my mind, like, ‘Should I just pack it in and look to the next part of the season, or should I keep going?’ I made it [but] it was one of those days I thought it would be so easy to get in the car, take a month and come back at the end of the season.
Tell us the story behind one of your scars.
I have this scar on my nose from the 2012 Tour of Romandie. There were 80kph winds. We were going down this climb and there was debris flying in the air. A piece of firewood or a log got blown from somebody’s shed a couple of switchbacks up and smacked me right in the face. It shocked me, it almost didn’t even hurt. I looked down and saw this pool of blood covering my power meter. I stopped, saw the blood and that my nose was hanging off.
"You can't replicate the feeling of standing on the podium in Paris at the Tour. I'd love to get back there"