Van Garderen looks ahead to U23 road race

American Tejay Van Garderen before the 2009 World Championships

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American Tejay Van Garderen comes up short in U23 time trial

Tejay Van Garderen (USA) was heavily fancied for at least a medal in the men's Under-23 time trial at the world championships in Mendrisio, Switzerland, but the 21-year-old, who will ride next season for Columbia-HTC, could only manage 12th.

Van Garderen was at a loss to explain his placing, beyond admitting that he struggled after the climb to regain his momentum. "After the hill I had trouble getting it rolling," he said, "but otherwise I liked the course and I felt OK.

"I didn't have a specific goal here," he added. "I'm focusing on both [the time trial and Saturday's road race], but I did better time trials [than Wednesday's] earlier in the year. And I think I prefer time trials when they're in the middle of a stage race."

Van Garderen will join Columbia-HTC team next year, after two seasons with the Rabobank Continental team. It is a move he describes as "an exciting new adventure with one of the best teams in the world. They've signed six guys who are under-23, so we will be a super young team, but with a lot of talent."

He also goes into the road race on Saturday buoyed by the strength of his American team. "We have a winning team," he said. "We have a strategy and a good idea of what we're going to do."

As for the world title-winning ride of Jack Bobridge - who will form part of a strong Australian team in Saturday's road race - Van Garderen was full of praise. "He was second at the track world championships behind Taylor Phinney [in the senior men's pursuit], so we knew he was very strong."

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