Tejay Van Garderen Discussion Thread

[Carols]

I guess I am beating a dead horse, or at least a very tired one. Going backwards too early. I had hopes...

I stopped having hopes for Tejay awhile ago. He's just not top shelf .

 

[Scarponi]

When you are finishing behind 2015 Frank Shleck we have some problems going forward

 

[52520Andrew]

Doesn't look like the climb today was crazy steep either which is not a good sign for Tejay. Not surprising though as he kinda decided to do the Vuelta only after the way the tour ended.

 

[richwagmn]

I guess I am beating a dead horse, or at least a very tired one. Going backwards too early. I had hopes...

I stopped having hopes for Tejay awhile ago. He's just not top shelf .

I agree. Probably explains BMC signing Porte for next year (who's still shaky IMO).

Tejay seems to be good at steady pace riding (though not as good as the best), but he doesn't do well with accelerations.

 

[orangerider]

Well I have to say my opinion of him has changed. Thought he had it what it takes for grand tours, but guess not. And please, no more of this "he's still young and can develop." He's 27 and should be at or near the peak of his career. He should rethink his racing strategy, perhaps focus on one-week races (Tour of California would love to have him each year) where his inconsistent riding is less likely to affect him, and/or sign up for domestique duty.

 

[MatParker117]

I guess I am beating a dead horse, or at least a very tired one. Going backwards too early. I had hopes...

I stopped having hopes for Tejay awhile ago. He's just not top shelf .

I agree. Probably explains BMC signing Porte for next year (who's still shaky IMO).

Tejay seems to be good at steady pace riding (though not as good as the best), but he doesn't do well with accelerations.

Great Superdom, ok leader.

 

[BigMac]

Bummer v2. Richmond is a no no.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re:

Well I have to say my opinion of him has changed. Thought he had it what it takes for grand tours, but guess not. And please, no more of this "he's still young and can develop." He's 27 and should be at or near the peak of his career. He should rethink his racing strategy, perhaps focus on one-week races (Tour of California would love to have him each year) where his inconsistent riding is less likely to affect him, and/or sign up for domestique duty.

I gave up on him a long time ago, but my hopes were re-ignited by his performance in the Dauphine. Yesterday's stage just killed those hopes for me - needs to start focusing on 1 week stage races imo a la Spilak

 

[BigMac]

How come, I still think he's GT material. Unlucky GT material.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re:

How come, I still think he's GT material. Unlucky GT material.

Tejay has only finished top 10 in two grand tours:

2012 TdF, finishing a minute down on the almighty Van Den Broeck in an extremely TT heavy route (though he was 24, so showing potential). 2013, he did nothing, and in 2014, he was again 5th - now at the age of 26. 4 mins down on Peraud though, and only 1 second ahead of Bardet, who was a dom for Peraud.

Now at 27, he showed some decent form in the Dauphine, and did well in the first week of the Tour. He did ok at PSM too, but considering how long and shallow the gradients were (perfect for TJ), he should probably have done better. We never got to see him in the Alps, but not many would argue that TJ would have been able to stay with the big 4 on those climbs.

Basically, TJ just isn't good enough on the mountains, and needs a lot of TTs to do well. Maybe he could do well in a TT heavy Giro given how cold it is (which suits him based on last year's catalunya), but apart from that, I just don't see where TJ could win a GT

 

[jmdirt]

Its a bummer that he crashed out today, and I hope that he is OK for worlds in the USA.

I don't think that he needs to 'refocus', but he certainly needs to 'adjust' his approach.

 

[Carols]

Anyone know the extent of his injuries? Will he be able to ride Worlds?

 

[Dazed and Confused]

I think its the collarbone.

 

[Carols]

Re:

I think its the collarbone.

It sure looked like the collarbone, but haven't heard anything definitive.

 

[Afrank]

Fracture to his right shoulder.

https://twitter.com/BMCProTeam/status/637666526338789376

 

[Carols]

Well there goes Richmond most likely If nothing else a TTT gold would have been nice for him.

 

[Tonton]

Yeah, crappy year for TJ, but let's not get too high one day, too low the next. He's top-5 GT material if the course suits him, but probably better suited for one-week races. And potentially a great domestique for a real contender: bringing some strengh to the ITT squad, able to pace...

For his fans, yikes. What a difference three months make.

 

[elfed68]

Re:

Well there goes Richmond most likely If nothing else a TTT gold would have been nice for him.

Richmond? A gallant loser maybe but never a contender???

 

[Moviefan1203]

Re: Re:

Well there goes Richmond most likely If nothing else a TTT gold would have been nice for him.

Richmond? A gallant loser maybe but never a contender???

I still believe in Tejay, but the last couple months had to really take a toll on him mentally. I hope he can push on and put it behind him.

 

[Grizzly322]

From the outside looking in, this Veulta seemed to have a lot of GC riders in it with the mentality of "yeah I'll give it a shot." He and many other "heavy hitter" riders are showing that this race was kind of an after thought. I haven't really followed the Vuelta until the last couple of years is it always like this?

Anyways back to Tejay it really sucks with his lack of good fortune in the last month. I still think he has a GT podium in him and maybe quite a few when his career is over.

 

[glassmoon]

Re:

From the outside looking in, this Veulta seemed to have a lot of GC riders in it with the mentality of "yeah I'll give it a shot." He and many other "heavy hitter" riders are showing that this race was kind of an after thought. I haven't really followed the Vuelta until the last couple of years is it always like this?

yeah, even Papi was able to win it

 

[Carols]

Re: Re:

Well there goes Richmond most likely If nothing else a TTT gold would have been nice for him.

Richmond? A gallant loser maybe but never a contender???

Gee, maybe I misremembered BMC winning the TTT gold last year....No I didn't there is Tejay with gold around his neck.

 

[rafaelalencar]

TVG should focus on winning the Giro or Vuelta before giving 100% on the Tour. Like Nairo did, now he is already a GT winner but TVG not. I know that the Tour has more appel but it's better win the Vuelta or Giro then be a top 5 or top 3 in the Tour. With the likes of Froome, Contador, Nairo let's be honest he doesn't have a chance yet...

 

[orangerider]

Re:

The Giro and Vuelta are even less suited to TJ than the Tour. The gradients are too steep. Tour has more of the kind of mountains that TJ can handle. He needs long but shallow, grinding, gradients so he can time trial up them at an optimal speed but not be at risk for blowing up by following the true climbers. Only problem is he isn't top shelf material at the Tour compared to the others. Also, he blows it away by having bad days and his health becomes an issue (probably due to being at an unhealthy weight for too long a period).

TVG should focus on winning the Giro or Vuelta before giving 100% on the Tour. Like Nairo did, bow he is already a GT winner but TVG not. I know that the Tour has more appel but it's better win the Vuelta or Giro then be a top 5 or top 3 in the Tour. With the likes of Froome, Contador, Nairo let's be honest he doesn't have a chance yet...

 

[52520Andrew]

Re: Re:

The Giro and Vuelta are even less suited to TJ than the Tour. The gradients are too steep. Tour has more of the kind of mountains that TJ can handle. He needs long but shallow, grinding, gradients so he can time trial up them at an optimal speed but not be at risk for blowing up by following the true climbers. Only problem is he isn't top shelf material at the Tour compared to the others. Also, he blows it away by having bad days and his health becomes an issue (probably due to being at an unhealthy weight for too long a period).

Pretty much my exact thoughts, Tejay doesn't like when climbs get too steep, Zoncolan or Angliru would not be a fun day for him