Andrew Talansky is starting his home race at the Tour of California needing a good result to boost his confidence ahead of the Tour de France. So far the 26 year old has ridden Paris-Nice, Catalunya and Basque Country and his best GC result was 31st in Catalunya and his best stage result sixth on the final ITT in Nice.

“We take a lot of pride coming here and performing to the best of our abilities,” Talansky said at the pre-race press conference. “We have a few of the young European guys, but we have myself, Alex Howes, Ted King, Joe Dombrowski and Ben King, all of whom are Americans and we’re very excited to be racing here.”

Despite his apparent lack of form, the 24k ITT provides Talansky with a chance to put his strong asset to good use and take time on the likes of Barguil, Henao and Gesink before the only summit finish at Mount Baldy the next day. The race is certainly winnable for the American.