In the BMC team, Marcus Burghardt is now one of the veterans. However, the 32-year-old had some new experiences in the racing calendar of his sixth season in the star-studded US team.

For the first time since 2009, Burghardt was first not selected for the Tour de France but made his debut at the Giro d'Italia. Furthermore, the classics specialist did the Vuelta a Espana for the for the second time after 2005, meaning that he did a grand tour double for the first time in his career.

While he reached the finish of the Giro, the Vuelta ended already after two days due to a crash. Because of a knee injury, he was unable to start the third stage. However, as a consolation for his first withdrawal from a grand tour, Burghardt was part of the win in the opening time trial in Marbella when BMC beat Tinkoff-Saxo by a single second.

But the Vuelta was not the only reason for the season balance that Burghardt drew when he spoke to  radsport-news.com: "I had a bad year with a lot of crashes and illnesses. I am happy that the season is over and I can concentrate on 2016.”

Nevertheless, Burghardt had some results: first of all his third place in the road race at the German Championships in Bensheim where he was beaten by Emanuel Buchmann and Nikias Arndt.

In July, Burghardt also showed good form at the Tour de Wallonie (2.HC) in. He was third in the 2nd stage and ended the race in 22nd. Finally, he had the successful start of the Vuelta in early August.

In the spring, Burghardt was again focused on the classics where he was not only a reliable domestique. 16th in the Tour of Flanders where captain Greg Van Avermaet was third – was a solid performance and he was also 22nd in E3 Harelbeke as the second best BMC rider behind Daniel Oss.

In his seventh year at BMC, Burghardt will again focus on the classics. But he also has his eyes on a return to the Tour de France.