Tejay van Garderen returned to competition after a long break in today's first stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné and the American did well to finish 9th in the time trial. Having crashed hard in the Tour de Romandie prologue, the American explained his time loss by an overly cautious approach to the technical sections.

Tejay van Garderen of the BMC Racing Team made his return to racing Sunday with a ninth-place finish in the Stage 1 individual time trial of the Critérium du Dauphiné. 

Van Garderen last competed in a race May 1 after withdrawing from the Tour de Romandie following a crash in the prologue of the Swiss race. The third-place finisher at this race in 2010 said a cautious approach to the sometimes-technical 10.4-kilometer race against the clock – and not the long layoff – affected his performance.

"After I had that crash at Romandie, I was overly cautious in the corners," van Garderen said.

Defending Critérium du Dauphiné champion Chris Froome (Team Sky) took the win in 13:13, eight seconds faster than runner-up Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) and third-placed Bob Jungels (Trek Factory Racing).

Van Garderen said he was not concerned with conceding 13 seconds on the opening stage of the eight-day race.

"Time gaps today were small," he said. "The big differences are going to be made in the mountains. This was a good test and I am ready to look forward."

BMC Racing Team Sport Director Yvon Ledanois said the decision to make van Garderen one of the team's early starters paid off.

"The weather changed quickly, just like yesterday. It was very windy," he said. "This was a good result for Tejay. I have confidence in him."