The shake of the head as he glanced back at the finish line clock told the story: Tejay van Garderen (BMC) had endured longer than most in resisting Sky’s forcing on the first summit finish of the Tour de France on La Pierre-Saint-Martin, yet the time keepers’ verdict was still a harsh one.
A month ago at the Critérium du Dauphiné, van Garderen gamely limited his losses to Chris Froome to a handful of seconds on successive summit finishes. On stage 10, the American conceded 2:30 in the space of just 6.5 kilometres. He was no longer in the same race.
As feared, the 15-kilometre finishing climb proved to be a boulevard of broken dreams for so many Tour contenders. Vincenzo Nibali cracked 10 kilometres from the top. Joaquim Rodriguez was next to go. With a little under 7 kilometres left, Alberto Contador lost ground.
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Van Garderen held tough a little longer, but he too had to relent 400 metres later. For a couple of kilometres he limited his losses to 40 seconds or so, but once Froome went into overdrive, the time gap seemed to grow exponentially. He would cross the line in 10th place, caught and passed by a group of chasers in the finale.
"It was extremely difficult, those first 10k were really steep and Sky definitely put on quite the performance," van Garderen said as he warmed down outside the BMC bus afterwards. "I tried my best to stay with them and then when it got a bit too much for me. I tried to stay in my rhythm and just focus on getting to the top."
Van Garderen had worn a pained expression that seemed part-exhaustion, part-disappointment as he had pedalled softly past the finish area and towards his bus, with a BMC press officer jogging alongside him acting as guide and bodyguard.
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