Four stages into his first Tour de France and Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Highroad) has settled into his role as super domestique for Mark Cavendish and Tony Martin.
The 22-year-old American has been tipped as a potential Grand Tour rider for the future but in his first Tour he has been tasked with pulling on the front of the bunch for Cavendish while also shepherding Martin through the hills and later in the race, the mountains.
Having completed his first Grand Tour last year at the Vuelta a Espana last year, Van Garderen talks about the differences between that experience and the Tour.
The American also sits just one second behind Geraint Thomas (Sky) in the battle for the white jersey and he discusses how his priorities still lie with the team’s ambitions despite being so close to what would be a major achievement in his first Tour.
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Daniel Benson is the Editor in Chief at both Cyclingnews.com and BikePerfect.com. Based in the UK, he has worked within cycling for almost 15 years, and he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he has reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he runs the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.