Vuelta a España - Tejay van Garderen: The injuries are minor and the legs are good
Aug 25 2017 01:16 am CET
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS FEEDSThe sixth stage of the Vuelta a España was not the best day for Tejay van Garderen. The BMC rider crashed twice but still managed to limit the damage to less than half a minute.
The American was forced to chase the group of favorites after suffering a first crash, and went down again with about three kilometers to go. Nevertheless, the rider finished only 20 seconds behind race leader Chris Froome and the other GC contenders.
"I felt great," he said about his performance earlier on the day. "Obviously the pace was really hard so I was on the limit. When I looked back I saw the selection that had already been made and I thought it was a good way to cement my spot in the GC."
Van Garderen isn't entirely sure what caused his crash and isn't likely to ever find out.
"It was a bumpy road. I must have just hit something and my hands slipped off the bars. It all happened kind of fast. I'd have to watch the video to see how it happened but I don't want to watch the video, so it will kind of be a mystery.
"I knew the (team) car was gonna be back so I had to get on the bike that I was on, but it was damaged. So I had to get a bike change. And then once I got the bike change and we were off the descent I went into damage control.
"When you really think about it, over three weeks nothing goes perfect. It's more about how you deal with the not perfect days and take advantage of the good days. I think I've shown that I'm good form. The injuries are pretty minor. The legs are good and the morale is good. We move forward and try to take advantage of any opportunity we get."
