He is arguably the USA’s best chance of success at the Tour de France in over a decade but as he tells Cyclingnews, Tejay van Garderen doesn’t see himself as a national cycling icon. Not yet, anyway.
Despite consistency in stage races he is 29th in the UCI’s WorldTour rankings. He is the USA’s highest ranked rider with Lawson Craddock the next run on the ladder in 58th spot. There’s a collective of talented US riders but there’s not one star that fans and sponsors can gravitate to.
“It’s a pretty big ask to make me out to be an icon. I’m not that. It would be cool if I could become that one day but I want people to be fans of the sport, not just an individual. That’s got to be what it’s about, right?” van Garderen suggests.
Like 7-Eleven in the eighties
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