Pro bike: Tejay van Garderen's BMC SLR01

After the departure of Andrew Talansky, Tejay van Garderen (BMC) is the USA's last GC rider standing at the 2014 Tour de France. The BMC team leader has had an up-and-down Tour thus far, but the main constant throughout van Garderen’s race has been his BMC Teammachine SLR01.

Launched in 2013 as successor to its Tour-winning predecessor, the SLR01 has won numerous friends, and glowing praise for its agility, speed and comfort, and for this reason, the BMC riders and team took the decision to favour it for this year’s cobbled stage 5 over BMC's own cobble-crusher, the GF01.

So this is van Garderen's only road bike model at this race, and it’s fitted out with a high-class, efficient and reliable component package, centred on Shimano's Di2 groupset. Following the pro’s usual sizing model, van Garderen rides a 56cm frame with 140mm, -17 degree stem, and relatively short-reach Ergonova Team carbon bars, with the Di2 shifters fitted high up on the bend for a comfortable all-day position.

BMC's proprietary Compliance Post seatpost in this instance has its maximum 30mm offset, with a Fizik Arione K3 saddle mounted well back on its carbon rails. The K3 is designed as a triathlon saddle, adding generous padding and a wider nose to the Arione's much-loved shape, and usually only appears aboard pros' bikes before Paris-Roubaix, but van Garderen must prefer it to the other options available to him.

Fizik's latest saddle range, unveiled at the Tour, features a reflective central section

Elite Sior carbon bottle cages are a split design that self-adjusts to allow easy bottle entry and exit, plus excellent retention. The race number board is fixed to a neat two-bolt bracket, custom made by BMC to stick on to the flattened rear of the SLR01's Compliance Post, and the SRM head unit was angled downwards, possibly to prevent distraction, or maybe that's just how Tejay likes it. Whatever the answer, the Tour's final week will be decided by a combination of watts, supreme bike control and staying power, and the SLR01 certainly has two of those in abundance.

The SLR01 has one of the best executed rear brake cable exits of any curent bike

Tejay van Garderen's BMC SLR01:
Frame: Teammachine SLR01
Fork: Teammachine SLR01 carbon
Headset: BMC
Stem: 3T ARX-Team 140mm -17 degrees
Handlebar: 3T Ergonova Team 42cm
Brakes: Shimano Dura-Ace
Levers: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2
Front derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2
Rear derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2
Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace 11-28 11 speed
Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace HG ON9000 11 speed
Crankset: Shimano Dura-Ace SR70 with SRM 175mm 53/39
Bottom bracket: Shimano BB86 press fit
Pedals: Shimano Dura-Ace PD9000
Wheels: Shimano Dura-Ace C50 tubular
Front tyre: Continental Competition Pro Ltd 25mm ALX
Rear tye: Continental Competition Pro Ltd 25mm ALX
Saddle: Fizik Arione K3 with carbon rails
Seatpost: BMC Compliance Post 30mm offset
Extras: SRM handlebar mount, Elite Sior carbon bottle cages, BMC custom number board mount
Total weight: 7.11kg / 15.67lb

Critical measurements:
Height: 185cm / 6'1"
Weight: 69kg / 151lbs
Saddle height BB centre to top: 787mm
Saddle setback: 105mm
Seat tube centre to top: 560mm
Seat tube centre to centre: 530mm
Saddle to bar centre: 635mm
Saddle to bar drop: 123mm
Head tube length: 165mm
Top tube length: 555mm

 

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