When the peloton toes the start line of the 2018 Tour de France in Noirmoutier-En-L'Ïle on Saturday, there will be five American riders representing the US spread across four WorldTour teams.
Tejay van Garderen brings the most experience of the quintet, with 11 Grand Tours under his belt and eight starts at the Tour de France. Once America's next GC hopeful, Van Garderen has now moved into a support role, as will his four compatriots; Taylor Phinney, Lawson Craddock, Ian Boswell and Chad Haga, who will all work tirelessly over the next three weeks in an attempt to help their respective team leaders secure an overall victory come the finish in Paris on July 29.
Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing)
On the heels of Cadel Evans' triumph at the 2011 Tour de France, Tejay van Garderen was once BMC Racing's next hopeful at the French Grand Tour. It all seemed like it was going according to plan when the American went on to place fifth overall in 2012, where he also won the best young rider classification, and then was fifth again in the 2014 edition. In 2015, he was the closest he had ever been to a podium finish but while in third place overall, behind Chris Froome and Nairo Quintana, he dropped out of the race in the final week. Since then, the expectations of him one day standing on the final podium in Paris have drifted further and further away from fruition.
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Van Garderen's role on BMC's Tour de France team has shifted to one of support for Richie Porte. Although they co-led the team in 2016, Van Garderen hovered in the top-10 until stage 17 where he lost more than 20 minutes and all hopes of a strong GC place on the roads to Finhaut-Emossonm, while Porte went on to finish fifth.
Skipping the Tour last year in favour of racing the Giro d'Italia seemed like an attempt to rediscover himself, and in some ways, he did with a stage 18 victory in Ortisei. He followed that up with a top-10 at the Vuelta a España.
His recent runner-up place at the Tour of California showed promising form heading into the Tour de France, and that could bode well for any attempts at stage victories. He has raced 11 Grand Tours making him the most experienced of the five Americans in the race. Although the win in Ortisei was his first Grand Tour stage victory, he has previously shown his potential for stage success at the Tour, with multiple top-10 finishes including second on Alpe d'Huez in 2013.
Taylor Phinney (EF Education First-Drapac)
Lawson Craddock (EF Education First-Drapac)
Ian Boswell (Katusha-Alpecin)
Chad Haga (Sunweb)
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/americans-take-up-support-roles-at-the-tour-de-france
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