Tejay Van Garderen Discussion Thread

[Moviefan1203]

Re:

Gutted for him. Heartbreaking. He will be back though

He had really shown a lot of improvement this year. This sport can be so brutal sometimes. Hopefully he can come back and get some results at the end of the season.

 

[Ludwig's Olaf]

Re: Tejay Van Garderen

I'm starting to have the sick feeling that TJ will end up 5th in Paris...

TJ is starting to have the sick feeling too

Sick enough to ABANDON! What a shame…but, I always felt he had no business being on the podium.

He evidently had a severe headache. I couldn't help noticing thinly masked pleasure from the commentators when he dropped off the back.

You must have a different set of commentators than we do in the US....these guys here have been touting TJ "with his diesel like engine built for the Alps" as a top 3 contender....like they did last year with "The Pit Bulldog" from Cannondale...it seems that any American that shows decent in a pre Tour race...Criterium/Tour de Suisse/Tour of Cali...they act like all of a sudden this rider is ready to win the Tour....I guess it's just typical country pride.

That's because you poor guys have to endure 30 minutes or so of commercials every hour, and you must be seduced to watch them. It's 2 or 3 minutes per hour on the German government TV, and the commentator doesn't inflict migraine.

 

[Psalmon]

Tejay did not look obviously "sick" pre-stage. He looked tired, not fresh, but why wouldn't anyone?

http://www.steephill.tv/players/720/nbcsports3/?title=Van+Garderen+Pre-Stage+17+interview,+no+indication+of+illness&dashboard=tour-de-france&id=_Xm5pW2xU_bu&yr=2015

Obviously he's not going to announce, "I've got a serious case of the runs, so I hope they don't drop me..." Who knows...Tejay and rest days...

 

[Andre.J]

Re:

T.J is completely at his limit. 5th sounds about right....if he doesn't crack.

Damn...I'm pretty god.

 

[Andre.J]

....anyway...the nightmare Tour continues....torturous to watch....I'm glad I record it and then fast forward through the junk...I end up watching about 15 minutes of actual racing...unless it is one of those rare great stages....where Froome crashes out or something in that nature

 

[hrotha]

Well, he abandoned and has nothing to show for his good form. Maybe if he had tried something in previous stages...

 

[Pentacycle]

Let's hope he can still get something out of this season at the Worlds.

 

[staubsauger]

I laughed big time today. TJ rode like a milquetoast since the Pyrenees and still lost & failed. I can't deny some gratification. ^^

 

[mikez]

The stresses these guys put their bodies through even without a GT are incredible. Add to that three weeks of racing and I find it surprising that even more of them don't get sick. These guys may have incomprehensible motors and fitness, but I don't know if it's really healthy.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re:

I laughed big time today. TJ rode like a milquetoast since the Pyrenees and still lost & failed. I can't deny some gratification. ^^

I dont laugh at a rider who is obviously distraught that they are too ill to carry on, it's just a complete lack of respect really.

Tejay isn't an explosive rider so has to do what he can to the best of his ability and that is to climb at his own pace and hope others have a bad day. It would probably have been good enough to see him finish 5th in this Tour, maybe even 4th due to Contadors crash today. Not all riders can be the same and I like it that way.

If the tour ever designs a route like Wiggins win in 2012 with nearly 100km of iTT and rubbish mountain stages he could even win the Tour.

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

I laughed big time today. TJ rode like a milquetoast since the Pyrenees and still lost & failed. I can't deny some gratification. ^^

I dont laugh at a rider who is obviously distraught that they are too ill to carry on, it's just a complete lack of respect really.

Tejay isn't an explosive rider so has to do what he can to the best of his ability and that is to climb at his own pace and hope others have a bad day. It would probably have been good enough to see him finish 5th in this Tour, maybe even 4th due to Contadors crash today. Not all riders can be the same and I like it that way.

If the tour ever designs a route like Wiggins win in 2012 with nearly 100km of iTT and rubbish mountain stages he could even win the Tour.

Good post. The guy did his best and I can't help but feel for him to get this far and not be able to finish it off, especially with a podium spot in sight. He's obviously devastated.

 

[Old School]

Re: Tejay Van Garderen

[/quote]
That's because you poor guys have to endure 30 minutes or so of commercials every hour, and you must be seduced to watch them. It's 2 or 3 minutes per hour on the German government TV, and the commentator doesn't inflict migraine. [/quote]

You have no idea how bad we've got it...these NBC guys have made my cycling viewership HORRIBLE for the last 15 years or so.

 

[Yingge]

Re: Tejay Van Garderen

From the BMC Website:

"Van Garderen said he had been fighting a bit of a cold he picked up after Stage 13.

"For awhile I was dealing with it just fine," he said. "It was just a little bit of the sniffles and not a big deal. But it kept getting a little bit worse. Then, on the rest day (Tuesday), I was having some feverish symptoms and chills. This morning, I woke up and thought the worst of it had passed. I felt ready to race and was back, closer to normal. But then once I got out there, the muscles just had no energy. Straight away from the start, I kind of knew this wasn't good and hopefully I could just hide and maybe ride into it for a few kilometers and start to feel better."

Been there a few times, wake up feeling fine, thinking all has passed, then after a few hours its steadily downhill into "phase 2" of the bug.

 

[cantpedal]

Re:

I laughed big time today. TJ rode like a milquetoast since the Pyrenees and still lost & failed. I can't deny some gratification. ^^

Pretty much sums up who you are as a person. your mother must be so proud.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Typical cold treated with proper medicines by a good doctor should have gone away in 2-3 days leaving him ok for today. I wonder if the problem was something different.

 

[Afrank]

Re-watching the race and just saw his abandon. Him and everyone else looked heartbroken. Hopefully he can come back during the next half of the season, maybe go try to do well in Colorado and worlds.

 

[jaylew]

Re:

Typical cold treated with proper medicines by a good doctor should have gone away in 2-3 days leaving him ok for today. I wonder if the problem was something different.

Normally, but I'm guessing recovering while riding the Tour isn't ideal. He did say he thought he was over it today which would be consistent with what you're saying. Who knows?

 

[Andre.J]

I heard he was suffering from a terrible headache....maybe brought on by the cold.

 

[mikez]

Re:

I laughed big time today. TJ rode like a milquetoast since the Pyrenees and still lost & failed. I can't deny some gratification. ^^

Well that's nice.

Personally, I don't wish unhappiness on or take pleasure in others misfortune but that's just me. You be whomever the person you want to be.

 

[Billie]

6th year as a pro and still every gt a truly awful day.

 

[Angliru]

Re:

I laughed big time today. TJ rode like a milquetoast since the Pyrenees and still lost & failed. I can't deny some gratification. ^^

Very classy. You should be proud.

 

[jmdirt]

"one of those rare great stages....where Froome crashes out or something in that nature" -Andre.J

"I laughed big time today. TJ rode like a milquetoast since the Pyrenees and still lost & failed. I can't deny some gratification. ^^" -Staubsauger

Hey mods, I thought that posts wishing people ill will were against the rules.

 

[Warhawk]

Re:

"one of those rare great stages....where Froome crashes out or something in that nature" -Andre.J

"I laughed big time today. TJ rode like a milquetoast since the Pyrenees and still lost & failed. I can't deny some gratification. ^^" -Staubsauger

Hey mods, I thought that posts wishing people ill will were against the rules.

I don't hope actual riders crash, but I do root for it to happen in PCM. Does it make me a bad person that I wish ill on a collection of 1s and 0s?

 

[Afrank]

Re:

"one of those rare great stages....where Froome crashes out or something in that nature" -Andre.J

"I laughed big time today. TJ rode like a milquetoast since the Pyrenees and still lost & failed. I can't deny some gratification. ^^" -Staubsauger

Hey mods, I thought that posts wishing people ill will were against the rules.

It's a fine line between wishing harm and just expressing dislike of a rider. The former is not acceptable while the later (while it can be in poor taste at times) doesn't necessarily break the rules.

Please report the posts you feel cross that line.

 

[RedheadDane]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/van-garderen-looking-my-teammates-in-the-eyes-killed-me



Watched that interview before the stage, and seriously I just wanted to give the poor guy a hug.

But some awesome teammates he's got:

“They were feeling bad for me but I was just thinking about all the kilometres they’d pulled in the wind for me and what they sacrificed for me. Next year they said they would do the same again.”