HTC-Columbia's Tejay Van Garderen came away from last week's Criterium du Dauphiné with an incredible third place overall. The 21 year old, who had been racing for the Rabobank Continental team for the past two seasons, began to turn heads immediately after the race began. He clocked an incredible time in the opening prologue, with defending Tour de France Champion Alberto Contador only able to best the American's time by 2 seconds for the victory.
"I was expecting to get maybe a top ten or top 15 overall because I was carrying good form from the Tour of California," Van Garderen said about the race. "So I stayed motivated from May onwards, but I was really surprised and pleased to get on the podium. I mean, look at the guys I was standing next to! If you had told me that was going to happen before the race I wouldn't have believed you."
The HTC-Columbia team went into the race without any setting any expectations for Van Garderen to make sure he didn't have any pressure in what would be his biggest stage race to date. The plan worked, and he continued to impress by finishing fourth in the 49 kilometer time trial, less than a minute behind the stage and eventual race winner, Janez Brajkovic (RadioShack).
"After the mid-week time trial I was sitting in second place by a good margin, and it looked like I was climbing better than some of the other GC guys. The first summit finish [on stage four] wasn't so good, I didn't feel snappy and I was a little timid. But I came through ok and got through the other stages well. It's definitely the high point of my career so far."
Van Garderen showed his mental toughness in the race's sixth stage, where the race finished atop the legendary Alpe d'Huez. He came unhitched from the group of favorites on the climb, but kept his composure to finish 1 minute and 26 seconds behind stage winner Contador, and successfully defend his podium place from Jurgen Van den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto).
His team has decided to rest Van Garderen so he'll be ready to take part in his first Grand Tour in two months time, the Vuelta á Espana in August. "The team said I should get a good rest and not even touch the bike for a week. But after that, I'll start thinking about the Vuelta."
He was originally scheduled to ride the Tour of Austria, but his telling performance in the Criterium du Dauphiné has helped the team to define his future as a rider.