Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) has moved onto the Vuelta a España's provisional podium after a tenacious ride on the 3km Alto de Santa Lucia summit finish on Wednesday.
Classified by the Vuelta organisation as a category 3 ascent despite the 20 per cent ramps, after crossing the line at Santa Lucia eight seconds down on Froome, van Garderen pointed out wryly, "That would have rated as a cat. 2 if not a cat. 1 climb in my book."
But whatever the climb's final ranking, the fact of the matter is that the American followed up his solid riding on the first major mountain stage in Andorra with another strong performance in the Vuelta's first summit finish of nine in this year's race. Despite the gap on Froome widening from two seconds to 10, he is now second overall.
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"We really wanted to stay safe, and [BMC Racing teammates] Rohan [Dennis] and Fran [Ventoso], they're big power guys who could lead us in to the climb and in a good position, and that saved me a lot of energy in the first couple of kilometres, not having to move up," van Garderen said.
"It's a pity I slipped there in the finale, but I think I'm right there. If I keep chipping away day by day, we're heading in the right direction."
Van Garderen pointed out that the racing had been unpredictable, because although the terrain was not easy and therefore potentially one for a major battle, "the GC is already kind of set, so there are guys down on time, and as long as it's the right combination the breakaway was always going to have a chance.
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