Nationality: American
Date of birth: August 12, 1988
Height: 185cm
Weight: 70kg
Team: EF Education First
Twitter: @tejay_van
Tejay van Garderen is an American rider for BMC Racing, and is best known for his time trialing and climbing ability.
Tejay van Garderen: career to date
After placing fifth in the 2012 and 2014 editions of the Tour de France, van Garderen was considered one of America's strongest grand tour contenders.
As a junior rider, van Garderen won national titles in nearly every discipline away from the track, taking time trial, criterium, road race and cyclocross crowns.
A professional career came calling at the age of 19 in 2008, when he joined the Rabobank Continental Team and won a stage of the Tour de l'Avenir that year.
The WorldTour then beckoned, with HTC-Columbia taking on van Garderen in 2010, where he mainly played a support role to more senior riders. When he was given his chance to lead though, he showed his talent, taking third place at the 2010 Critérium du Dauphiné.
After HTC ceased to exist, van Garderen moved on to BMC in 2012, showing good form in that year's Paris-Nice before he first showed signs that he could be a Tour contender after claiming the best young rider classification in the 2012 race, which was won by Bradley Wiggins.
The following year he only achieved 45th position after winning the Tour of California, but returned in 2014 and once again finished fifth.
After the retirement of 2011 Tour winner Cadel Evans from the BMC Racing team, the way was clear for van Garderen to assume full team leadership at the 2015 Tour. A second place finish at the Dauphiné behind Chris Froome (Team Sky) bode well for his chances, and he rode well in the opening week, with BMC taking the team time trial stage victory.
However, an untimely illness saw van Garderen forced to withdraw on stage 17 while in third position overall.
BMC provided some competition for van Garderen for the team leadership in 2016, signing climber Richie Porte from Team Sky to improve the team's strength with a dual assault at the Tour.
Unfortunately 2016 was another disappointing year for the van Garderen, as he again fell ill at the Tour de France, winding up finishing 29th overall.
He also performed poorly at the Vuelta a España, apparently putting little effort into the race, eventually abandoning on stage 17 while sitting 95th overall.
Kicking off the 2017 season, van Garderen was expected to lead BMC racing at the Giro d'Italia, leaving conquest of the Tour de France with Porte. However, the team's initial plan showed van Gardern sharing the responsibility with Rohan Dennis.
Things changed after Stage 3 saw the Australian teammate lose five minutes following a hefty crash. Van Gaderen took on the mantle solo, winning stage 18 and finishing 20th overall.
He later said he was keen to make another attempt on a Grand Tour GC soon.
He moved to EF Education First in 2019. He had a stellar performance at the Critérium du Dauphiné, finishing 2nd overall. He also finished 9th overall at the Tour of California.
2020 should see him set his eyes on a solid result at the Giro and the Tour.
Major results: Young rider classification 2012 Tour de France | 2013 Tour of California | 2013 and 2014 USA Pro Cycling Challenge
Latest
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'It sets a dangerous precedent': Tour of California riders react to controversial UCI ruling
The UCI commissaires allowed Tejay van Garderen to maintain his overall lead despite getting caught in a crash outside of the 3km mark
By Sophie Smith •
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Tejay van Garderen joins EF Education First-Drapac for 2019
American leaves BMC Racing after seven seasons
By Richard Windsor •
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'I was looking down at my bike and I crashed into the back of a team car': Tejay van Garderen crashes out of Paris-Nice
Tejay van Garderen has been forced to pull out of Paris-Nice following two crashes on the opening stage, the second of which involved another team car.
By Henry Robertshaw •
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BMC explain how Tejay van Garderen saved his Vuelta after stage six crashes
Tejay van Garderen had a difficult day on stage six that could have seen him out of Vuelta a España contention
By Gregor Brown •
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Tejay van Garderen battered but upbeat after crash-marred Vuelta a España stage
Two crashes saw American Tejay van Garderen lose his second place overall in the Vuelta a España, but he says that his injuries are minor and he'll fight on
By Gregor Brown •
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Watch: Bizarre crash takes out Tejay van Garderen and Carlos Betancur at Vuelta a España
Stage six of the Vuelta a España saw a strange incident when Tejay van Garderen and Carlos Betancur crashed on a seemingly innocuous stretch of road.
By Henry Robertshaw •
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Tejay van Garderen and Rohan Dennis to ride free roles at Vuelta a España 2017
BMC announce Vuelta a España team with Tejay van Garderen, Rohan Dennis and Samuel Sanchez all given free roles
By Craig Cunningham •
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Tejay van Garderen: 'I'm going to try again for the GC in a Grand Tour'
Tejay van Garderen took his first Grand Tour win on stage 18 of the 2017 Giro d'Italia, but says he's determined to do well in the overall classification of a Grand Tour in the near future
By Gregor Brown •
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Which North American riders will take to the Giro d'Italia start line?
We take a look at the eight riders to line-up in Italy from Canada and the United States
By Jeffrey Stern •
