What is the future like for Van Garderen?

[batman1425]

The writing was on the wall this year after multiple rounds of hype and poor delivery since his 5th place at the tour in '14. Tejay gets bumped from the TdF primary slot this year and sent to the Giro, which he has unfortunately not had a great ride as so far.

The guy is no doubt talented, has won some big races, and was the best american GC rider at the Tour in '12 and '14, coming 5th in both iterations in addition to taking the white jersey in '12. Since though, he's continued to struggle to stay on GC terms in both shorter races and grand tours. BMC put it in no subtile terms that Porte is getting the nod going forward.

After a lackluster Giro, the future looks murky for him. I'm not sure he has a BMC contract beyond 2017 - I could be wrong. I don't think he can continue to stay on at BMC as a priority GC rider, even at the smaller events unless he can start coming up with the goods - even on a smaller scale. Does he stay on board as a super-domestique in support of Porte (which I think would actually be a role he would be really good at)? Does he hit the reset button, head to a different squad without an established GC threat to stay in the GC hunt? Spend the rest of the season and into next year re-tooling to become a TT/climbing/breakaway stage hunter instead of a GC guy? I want to see him do well, but I feel like he is missing an opportunity by continuing to push for the GC when him be successful in other areas if he focused on them.

[fa63]

I am sure Cannondale will sign him next, so he can continue to be mediocre.

In all seriousness though, I think the guys needs a break from the pressure. Maybe sign for a much smaller team without all the expectations, and see if he can reinvent himself. Not sure he is willing to take that kind of a paycut, but he is not really in a position to negotiate anyways.

[batman1425]

I am sure Cannondale will sign him next, so he can continue to be mediocre.

In all seriousness though, I think the guys needs a break from the pressure. Maybe sign for a much smaller team without all the expectations, and see if he can reinvent himself. Not sure he is willing to take that kind of a paycut, but he is not really in a position to negotiate anyways.

Funny, the rider I think he is most similar to is Tommy D.

[clyde the point]

Funny, the rider I think he is most similar to is Tommy D.

Cold cold ice cold.

[wallymann]

he's not a true GT contender. full stop.

focus on the shorter national tours and 1-week stage races. suisse. dauphine. etc. he can add to his palmares and build an amazing career of wins and high finishes, instead of a string of DNFs, disappointments, and footnotes.

Cold cold ice cold.

IMO not really. danielson was a world-class climber (albeit doped), but he could crush guys going uphill on his day. TJ doesnt have that 1 thing to hang his hat on.

[batman1425]

Cold cold ice cold.

Not in reference to doping, in reference to his struggles as a GC contender.

[KJMUNC]

His future should involve races of 7 days or less, period.

Dude can hang when he's fresh but gets killed over time. Don't know how much is mental vs physical, but doesn't matter at this point as there are enough data points to prove the thought.

He should stop banging his head against the grand tour wall and go back to being successful in a different setting, namely shorter races with some climbing where he doesn't have to attack (cause he won't).

[batman1425]

danielson was a world-class climber (albeit doped), but he could crush guys going uphill on his day.

This in a nutshell... to be a GC contender, you either can't have many bad days, or your bad days have to be better than most other riders good ones. TJ can light it up going uphill when the start align but consistent good performance is what wins GCs. Tommy D was very similar.

[earlfoss]

I've felt recently that if he was to reinvent himself, shooting for a Sammy Sanchez or Louis Leon Sanchez type niche would be a good goal.

[FlashUNC]

Go focus on the Ardennes Classics try to win LBL a couple times. At least gives him the chance to eat a cheeseburger every now and again.

[wallymann]

This in a nutshell... to be a GC contender, you either can't have many bad days, or your bad days have to be better than most other riders good ones. TJ can light it up going uphill when the start align but consistent good performance is what wins GCs. Tommy D was very similar.

true in that regard...neither could hold it together for 3 weeks...the vaunted le jour sans

[merlincustom1]

We only talk about him because he's American. As it's turned out, he's no three week guy. I'm not sure riders reinvent themselves when dope's not involved. After a day like today I don't see him as Porte's shepard.

[adub]

We only talk about him because he's American. As it's turned out, he's no three week guy. I'm not sure riders reinvent themselves when dope's not involved. After a day like today I don't see him as Porte's shepard.

This^^^

[batman1425]

We only talk about him because he's American

Reasonable point but I think we talk about him because he's an American AND puts himself in the GC limelight. You could give the same criticism to Nicholas Roche before he was folded into the sky machine as a superdomestique after so many unsuccessful runs at grand tours. If you are going to bill yourself as a grand tour/stage race contender - American or not, that comes with certain expectations.

We don't have the same expectations for guys like Peter Stetina, Alex Howes, Brent Bookwalter, Danny Pate, etc. who are all great riders that fill essential support roles on their teams, and do so very well. We don't talk about them because they do their jobs well. TeJay's job is win GC's, and he's not bringing home the bacon.

I think he has the potential to be a very successful rider at the world tour level, just not as a GC contender.

[jlwdm]

I think he is completely damaged now as the expectations have ruined him. He is just skin and bones. . I don't think he has the heart to be a super domestique. I don't see him winning any classics either.

Jeff

[wallymann]

I think he is completely damaged now as the expectations have ruined him. He is just skin and bones. . I don't think he has the heart to be a super domestique. I don't see him winning any classics either.

Jeff

agree. hope i'm wrong, tho.

[cmg]

he needs to win..........something

[oldpotatoe]

I think he is completely damaged now as the expectations have ruined him. He is just skin and bones. . I don't think he has the heart to be a super domestique. I don't see him winning any classics either.

Jeff

Agree, like a lot of older pros, he has seen his zenith and moving to a team that concentrates on US races, shorter races, a US domestic squad, is his option. Kinda like Horner. If he wants to still suffer and race. Julich comes to mind..

[GregL]

Fresh interview from this AM:

http://www.velonews.com/2017/05/giro-ditalia/van-garderen-maybe-not-grand-tour-rider_438724

Not sounding promising...

[livingminimal]

All this talk is really weird to me. It's been obvious for about 4 years he is not a GC GT rider. One weeks? Maybe, depending on the competition. He needs to shift to being a Vasil Kiryienka. Crush a TT, be a super domestique.

[livingminimal]

Go focus on the Ardennes Classics try to win LBL a couple times. At least gives him the chance to eat a cheeseburger every now and again.

He doesn't have anywhere close to the necessary finishing sprint for that. He has to win in a break or a super late extraordinary push where everyone else just looks at each other. Seems incredibly unlikely. Given the Ardennes crop waiting for Valverde to retire, TJV will never get a sniff at those races.

[El Chaba]

Jean Francois Bernard redux. As Jeff had to leave France to escape the pressure, Teejay needs to do the same thing. he needs to find a place on a strong foreign team with a great director....if he could secure a spot on Movistar, that would be close to ideal...

[nooneline]

I think the crazy thing about bike racing is that you can have these flashes in the pan. Repeatability is a lot harder than one-time performances.

Holy **** - he got 5th at the Tour!

Tejay's obviously got a lot of talent, but what it takes to finish 5th in the Tour twice is, like, a lot more than what it takes to finish 5th in the Tour once.

Sometimes a lot of form combines with a lot of luck. And sometimes people spend the rest of their careers chasing that repeatability.

Like.. What if Hayman's PR victory came ten years earlier in his career? He'd flog himself trying to do that again. And it'd probably never happen.

[batman1425]

All this talk is really weird to me. It's been obvious for about 4 years he is not a GC GT rider. One weeks? Maybe, depending on the competition. He needs to shift to being a Vasil Kiryienka. Crush a TT, be a super domestique.

This is my thought too - but the powers that be at BMC kept facilitating the dream - potentially at great expense to TeJay. They were obviously grooming him to take the reigns from Cadel but maybe tried too hard to get their time and money investment back and pushed too hard to make him fill the role they wanted him to fill?

Just read the VN interview this am. Poor guy sounds broken. If I was him, I'd shorten the program for the rest of the year, prepare to transition to a new, smaller squad focusing on shorter stage races and breakaways and rebuild some confidence. Maybe a high level pro continental squad (UH or Rally) or a smaller world tour outfit where he could be given the flexibility to ride for himself when the form is there and be of value to the team when not.

[batman1425]

Sometimes a lot of form combines with a lot of luck. And sometimes people spend the rest of their careers chasing that repeatability.

Like.. What if Hayman's PR victory came ten years earlier in his career? He'd flog himself trying to do that again. And it'd probably never happen.

Excellent point and applicable to everyone in their professional lives. Have a core skill set for which you are well trained and successful implementing that provides personal and professional satisfaction and the confidence to break step and go after the big opportunities when the moment comes.

I think that is where Teejay missed out. He never developed that foundation beyond his breakout performances at the tour so there was no work-a-day function to fall back on, to build confidence with incremental success and progress. Just high pressure expectations and failure time after time despite him throwing the kitchen sink at it.

This is actually a very common problem for people in my professional field (biomedical research). Years of work on a project which flatlines in the final stages leaving you with (literally) nothing to show for that time and effort. It beats you down.

[livingminimal]

Id point out that Teejay hasn't ever won a GT stage that wasn't a TTT too.

I want the guy to be a successful American cyclist, but that doesn't have to mean winning the ****ing Giro of all things. I wish his DS's knew his lane a little better.