Van Garderen: My chance of a top 3 is quite good

BMC Racing Team General manager Jim Ochowicz was prompt to recall in a press conference at Jaarbeurs in Utrecht: “We’re one of the teams that have won this race in a recent past.” It occurred in 2011 with Cadel Evans, the only cyclist from the Southern Hemisphere to have put his name on the record book of the Tour de France up to date. Van Garderen took over from the Australian as their team leader and finished fifth last year.
“Our plan is to improve this fifth place”, Ochowicz warned. “Tejay is a podium contender. In the first part of the Tour, he can go head to head with anybody in the peloton. Our primary goal is to make the podium.”
“I see my chance [of finishing in the top three] is quite good”, Van Garderen assented. “I feel better than I have ever felt. In the past I’ve had a few mishaps leading up to the Tour but not this year. I’m well rounded. I feel more relaxed. Having a result in June confirms that I’ve done the work properly.”
Being a runner up at the Dauphiné has obviously boosted his confidence. BMC Racing Team has won the team time trial in the Alpine race and is likely to do so as well on stage 9 at the Tour de France. “I’m really honored to lead such a strong team like this”, Van Garderen continued. “It’s gonna be a marathon. The Tour is not won in the first week, it’ll maybe be won in l’Alpe d’Huez. If I stay strong, by the end I’ll have a good shot. In the first week, no news is good news. With Miki [Schär], Quinzi [Manuel Quinziato] and [Daniel] Oss, I couldn’t have better guys to avoid the pitfalls and the mistakes.”
BMC Racing Team is completely built at the service of its leader who is one of only three Americans competing, along with Andrew Talansky of Cannondale-Garmin and Tyler Farrar from MTN-Qhubeka, but former world record hour holder Rohan Dennis has obviously the freedom to perform on his own in the first day of racing on a 13.8km course that suits him very well against the clock.