Van Garderen wins stage 5 time trial at USA Pro Challenge

Image 1 of 34

Tejay van Garderen took a big step toward slaying his demons at the USA Pro Challenge in Colorado on Friday by taking the win during the stage 5 Vail Time Trial over runner-up Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) and adding significant time to the margin over his main general classification rivals.

"I was actually surprised to hear that I got the stage win when I crossed the line, because I felt pretty bad those last two kilometers," van Garderen said. "I think you could probably see that on TV. But I'm definitely thrilled to get the win, and hopefully we can hold this jersey to Denver."

Van Garderen covered the 16.1km mostly uphill route in 25:01, more than 46 seconds faster than the previous course record set by Levi Leipheimer in 2011. Talansky's time of 25:05 held for much of the day before van Garderen, who started last as the race's overall leader, crossed the finish line with the day's best time.

A disappointed Talansky didn't appear at the post-race press conference, but the Garmin rider said at the finish line that the Vail Time Trial was the hardest he's ever done.

"At altitude you're at the limit the whole time, and in the last kilometer you're about to black out because you have no oxygen...you're swerving," Talansky said. "Every second of that course I was zoned in. You have to pace it right, and if you don't come into the last kilometer completely empty, then you were doing something wrong."

Talansky's teammate, Tom Danielson, Garmin's general classification hope who started the day 40 seconds behind van Garderen, finished third with a time of 26:03. BMC's Mathias Frank, second overall at the start of the day, finished 10th, 1:26 slower than his winning teammate.

Van Garderen had twice worn yellow into the USA Pro Challenge's final days – in both 2011 and 2012 – but ended up surrendering his overall leads in those years to Leipheimer and Christian Vande Velde, respectively. Vande Velde finished well out of the running this year at 26:25.

Given van Garderen's past history with the race, holding onto yellow and going into the final two days with a significant gap over his competitors was especially satisfying for the 25-year-old rider from Colorado.

"It took me until today to forget that 2011 ride," van Garderen said of the 2011 time trial in Vail where he lost his lead to Leipheimer. "Last year was equally disappointing, because it looked like I had a firm grip on the race win and then I lost it up on Flagstaff. I thought I could regain it in the time trial, but Christian had the ride of his life.

"So this race has been a little bit elusive for me, like I've kind of tasted it but haven't quite been able to grab it," van Garderen continued. "It's not over until it's over, so I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but I feel like this year things are finally going right."

Van Garderen now leads his teammate, Frank, by 1:30 in the general classification with just two stages remaining. Danielson is third overall at 1:42.

How it Happened

The 16.1km course started in Vail Village, where riders negotiated a tight opening loop through some of the small tourist streets. The route then burst out onto a frontage road that paralleled Interstate-70. From there the riders headed east on the relatively flat road for the first half before a gentle rise. The second half of the route tilted upwards as the riders hit Vail Pass.

Although not particularly steep, the elevation took it's toll. The steepest part of the route came in the final kilometer, where fans mobbed the road and only cleared an open path as riders approached.

"Your lungs are searing up there in that thin air," van Garderen said. "You look down at your power and your SRM and you're doing way less than you know that you can normally do at sea level. So sometimes it's easy to get demoralized, but you have to just remind yourself that everything's OK."

Bissell's Jason McCartney set the early mark to beat at 27:49, but his time was quickly eclipsed by Sky's Kanstantin Siutsou, who came in at 26:17. The Sky rider's time held for nearly 45 minutes before Talansky, who finished 10 the at the Tour de France, blew away the best time with a mark of 25:05.

McCartney said he was really hoping to improve on his time from two years ago when he was riding with RadioShack.

"I looked at the results from two years ago and I was only 1:39 back and I didn't even warm up because we were working for Levi," McCartney said. "So I thought I'd give it a go today and, you never know, maybe the conditions change and maybe it rains and I'll end up having a good time."

BMC's Stephen Cummngs, starting just 10 places after Talansky, set the second-fastest time at that point, but was still a minute behind the Garmin rider at 26:05. Cummings' teammate, Larry Warbasse, put in a good ride but also couldn't come close to Talansky, finishing 1:08 behind the leader.

Garmin's Lachlan Morton, who lost the yellow jersey the day before on the climb over Bachelor Gulch, covered the course in 26:18. Frank was well out of the running for the stage win, and Janier Acevedo (Jamis-Hagens Berman), who won stage 4 in front of van Garderen and started the day third overall at 30 seconds back, had a disappointing time of 27:02.

With just one rider left on course, Talansky looked on target to take the stage win, but van Garderen's ride put him out of the lead by four seconds.

Now with just two stages remaining – a 185.4km stage from Loveland to Fort Collins and the 116.5km closing circuit race in Denver – van Garderen looks like a lock for the overall win. But Garmin-Sharp assistant director Chann McRae told *Cyclingnews* the race for the overall won't be over until the riders cross the finish line in Denver, and "we're here to race it."

Danielson's plan was a little less serious than his director's.

"Have you guys seen Breaking Away," Danielson joked in answer to a reporter's question about his chances to take back yellow. "There's a pump on my bike tomorrow. Watch out."

Full results