Tejay van Garderen and BMC got their title defence at the USA Pro Challenge off to a solid start when Ben Hermans finished third in the opening stage. With no less than 5 riders in the top 10, the team had strength in numbers and tried to use that position to their advantage.

Ben Hermans's third-place finish led five BMC Racing Team riders in the top 15 on Monday's opening stage of the USA Pro Challenge. Hermans finished three seconds behind stage winner Kiel Reijnen (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team) and runner-up Alex Howes (Garmin-Sharp). The pair slipped a group of about two dozen riders on the final corners of the run-in to downtown Aspen.

Fourth-place overall last week at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, Hermans said he was given the green light to chase the leading pair in the final kilometer.

"Some guys who were with me to chase back the front guys lost my wheel in the corner, so I was alone – about 20 or 30 meters from the first two guys," he said. "I came very close in the last corner to start the sprint, but I was completely blocked. At altitude, it is difficult to recover in one or two corners. So I could not sprint anymore."

After Hermans, teammate Michael Schär was seventh, Brent Bookwalter was ninth, Tejay van Garderen was 11th and Peter Stetina was 15th. All four arrived 12 seconds after the stage winner.

Van Garderen said he made a smooth return to racing in the 98-kilometer race. The USA Pro Challenge's defending champion had not raced since Aug. 2 at Clasica San Sebastian following a fifth-place finish at the Tour de France.

"I felt good," van Garderen said. "A couple weeks without racing, sometimes you have to blow out the lungs and dust off the cobwebs. But I feel like I responded really well."

Van Garderen said the team's strategy to use specific riders to mark other teams' leaders went accordingly to plan.

"We are trying to spread out our options a little bit and I think it worked out perfectly in the end," he said. "Everyone who gained a little time on me, I am pretty confident Ben Hermans can beat. And everyone who is on my time, I am pretty confident that I can beat. So that really spreads out our chances to win this race."

Sport Director Jackson Stewart said it was good to see so many BMC Racing Team riders make the front group when the pace quickened on the last of two trips up the climb of McClain Flats.

"I think the guys are a little disappointed because they did not get the stage win and lost a few seconds, Stewart said. "But neither is the end of the world."

Hermans's third-place finish was second only to his runner-up result on the Stage 4 climb to Powder Mountain in Utah last week.

"We came here with a strong team," Stewart said. "Just like in Utah, we know we have guys who can ride at the same level. So it gives us more options. This was good for Ben. He has had some good results. It will be good to see how it pans out."