Van Garderen looking for Paris-Nice redemption

The last time Tejay van Garderen hooked up with Paris-Nice the relationship ended with a 16th place finish behind now team-mate and winner Richie Porte, now he's back and hoping for a much better result.

Tejay van Garderen, BMC, Paris-Nice

Simon Gerrans, Tejay van Garderen and Jürgen Roelandts. Source: Getty

The American will line up at the 4-11 March tour, his first UCI WorldTour stage race of the season, as the clearly defined leader and with a well-balanced team designed to suit his ambitions.

"The last time I raced Paris-Nice was in 2015 where I had a disastrous day in the cold, so hopefully we can learn from that and correct the mistakes from the past and make a solid push for a high General Classification result," van Garderen said.

"With the strength, experience, and motivation BMC Racing Team is bringing to Paris Nice we shouldn't be satisfied with anything less than a top result."

Lining up alongside van Garderen will be Australian Simon Gerrans, Alessandro De Marchi (ITA), Jempy Drucker (LUX), Nicolas Roche (IRL), Jürgen Roelandts (BEL) and Dylan Teuns (BEL).

Like he does in most stage races, van Garderen will target a result in the time trial as a platform for posting a credible overall result.

"Volta ao Algarve (3rd overall) was a good form builder and confidence booster," he said. "To be able to nab a podium result was a good way to start the season as well as a chance to learn what I needed to address in training heading into Paris-Nice. I've done some more work on the time trial bike in preparation for Stage 4."

Sports Director Fabio Baldato said both van Garderen and the team are motivated for a good result in France and laid out their expectations.

"Tejay van Garderen is our outright leader at Paris-Nice and after a strong performance at Volta ao Algarve, I think he can produce another good result in France," he said.

"Having lived in Nice, Tejay is familiar with the climbs on the final two days and he will have good climbing support with Nicolas Roche, Dylan Teuns, and Alessandro de Marchi.

"For the flat stages, Jempy Drucker, Simon Gerrans, and Jürgen Roelandts are excellent riders to have around Tejay, so we have a well-balanced team lining up. Tejay put in a strong time trial in Portugal and this will be another important day for a good overall result at Paris-Nice."

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2 min read
Published 1 March 2018 9:37am
By Cycling Central
Source: BMC Racing, Cycling Central

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