After abandoning the Vuelta a Espana and fading in the final ten stages of the Tour de France, BMC have declared Tejay van Garderen’s season to be over. Team manager Jim Ochowicz has described the American as being in a “slump”.

With pressure coming from supporters to start Richie Porte as sole Grand Tour leader in the Tour de France, Ochowicz says he is determined to help end a run that has seen van Garderen not top ten a three week race since the 2014 Tour.

"The season is over for him. He got into a slump. He is in a slump but that happens to people in sport all the time. He's got to work himself out of that slump and we're all there to help in whatever way we can," Ochowicz told Cyclingnews.

van Garderen has won both the USA Pro Challenge and the Tour of California back home, has stage wins in both Catalunya and Tour de Suisse and won his first European time trial in Andalucia earlier this season. In terms of stage racing, he has struggled to win a European race, taking second in the Dauphine, third in Catalunya and twice fifth in the Tour.

Ochowicz says van Garderen has a body made for cycling and he needs to start getting results to match the cycling physique he has.

"He's certainly an exceptional athlete and he's been gifted with an extraordinary cycling body, however you want to measure that. He's done some great things in cycling but he needs to do something more, not just for us but for himself."

It is unclear if the 28 year old Colorado native will ride the Tour in 2017. Ochowicz says it all depends on the Giro’s route announcement and then the Tour’s.

"When we see the calendar we'll sit down and go through it. He's going to start his training up again in October and he'll get some miles on the road and do some gym work.”