Van Garderen’s luck turns with stage win in South Bay
Tejay van Garderen’s season started with a strong podium result at Volta ao Algarve, a stage race that takes place in Portugal and often serves as a harbinger of things to come.
It sure didn’t do that for the American cyclist.
Instead, he crashed into the back of a team car while working his way toward the front of the field at Paris-Nice. He crashed again on a training ride prior to Volta a Catalunya, and wound up racing with a broken rib.
“It seemed,” said van Garderen, who won the 2013 Tour of California, “like it went from bad luck to bad luck.”
His fortunes finally turned back Wednesday, when van Garderen laid down a cracking time trial at the Tour of California.
His winning time of 40 minutes, 47 seconds over the 21.6 mile course in Morgan Hill was seven seconds clear of BMC Racing teammate Patrick Bevin and good enough for the overall lead.
He not only made up his deficit on Egan Bernal, who assumed the race lead with his mountain-top win Monday, but van Garderen put 23 seconds between him and the Team Sky rider with three stages to go.
“Time will tell,” van Garderen said. “If I lose the race by one second, I’m going to wish I eked out another second here. But I’m ahead of any time bonuses, so as long as I stick to the wheel (of my rivals) I’ll be safe in that regard, and Bernal has shown he’s going uphill really well.”
Van Garderen’s lead should be safe on Friday’s fifth stage that should be decided in a sprint. But the crucial test will be the following day, when the peloton tackles a long, brutal stage that ends with a hard climb near Lake Tahoe.
Bernal will no doubt attack. So will Daniel Martinez, who is 37 seconds off the overall lead, and a host of other climbers with aspirations of snatching away van Garderen’s yellow jersey.
“Tahoe is going to be a big test of the strength of the team, and I think we have one of — if not the — strongest teams here,” van Garderen said. “They’ll be able to control it and when we get to the upper slopes of the climb. I’m going to have to stick to the climbers.”