Tejay van Garderen was the second best rider in last year's edition of the Tour of Oman, accepting a supremacy of Chris Froome, but results obtained in the latter part of the season didn't exactly confirm that he deserves being placed so high in climbers' hierarchy. The 26-year old American believes, though, that improving on his runner-up spot from previous edition of the Omani race is within his reach and gets himself ready for the decisive battle on the Green Mountain.
“It’s the first race of the year and I didn’t really know what to expect. I think I like where we stand,” van Garderen told Cyclingnews at the finish in Al Bustan.
Like several other strong general classification contenders in likes of Alejandro Valverde, Rafał Majka or Daniel Moreno, van Gerderen finished a testing second stage to Al Bustan in the 19-rider group, while Joaquim Rodriguez, Leopold Konig or Vincenzo Nibali fell out of contention early. The 26-year old American was pleased with his own performance on Wednesday, but hugely regretted another chance lost by his team-mate Greg Van Avermaet, who missed out on a victory inside last 10 meters.
“Movistar seemed really motivated over the first climb and they were making the tempo hard until the final KOM. Valverde tried some really hard attacks and I was on his wheel. (Rafal) Majka tried a good attack and I even had a dig myself.”
“Greg was obviously going for the win and I was trying to play my cards with the GC guys,” van Garderen explained. “Greg was really strong today and it’s a pity that he didn’t take the stage but I think that we can both take confidence and go for victories later in the week.”
Currently sitting ninth overall, 6 seconds down on the Movistar leader, the BMC Racing captain aknowledges that Friday's stage with a finish atop the Green Mountain will be decisive.
“We’ll see. I mean Majka and (Alejandro) Valverde are both looking strong but I will give it a go.”
23.04 - 27.04: CAC Nile Tour |
27.04: Liberazione Juniores |
27.04: E3 Saxo Classic |
27.04: Leiedal Koerse |
27.04: Ceratizit Festival Elsy Jacobs |
21.04 - 28.04: Presidential Cycling Tour of T... |
23.04 - 28.04: Tour de Romandie |
24.04 - 28.04: Tour of the Gila |
24.04 - 28.04: Tour of the Gila Women |
25.04 - 28.04: Gracia |
Anatoliy KASHTAN 37 years | today |
Samad POOR SEIEDI 41 years | today |
Tony MANN 46 years | today |
Roman MÜLLER 39 years | today |
Kai HUNDERTMARK 55 years | today |
© CyclingQuotes.com