Modane/Valfréjus, France – Tejay van Garderen of the BMC Racing Team came up 10 seconds shy in his bid to win the Critérium du Dauphiné Sunday as Chris Froome (Team Sky) soloed to win the final stage and the overall title.
Van Garderen could not follow Froome’s attack in the final 2.5 kilometers of the 156.5-km race that finished at the Modane Valfréjus ski station. By winning the stage 18 seconds ahead of van Garderen – who finished fourth – Froome earned a 10-second time bonus that was his final margin of victory.
Third here in 2010, van Garderen said the runner-up result was a bit of a disappointment. But it also shows he is on target in his preparation for his goal race of the year, the Tour de France.
“Every race you go to you want to shoot for the top,” he said. “I am certainly happy with second place and I am really happy with how I am stacking up to all of my tour rivals. I think it is a good sign for July. But right now it is hurting a little bit. But sometimes that is a good thing.”
Vangarderen, Froome, Costa
The BMC Racing Team won the Stage 3 team time trial Tuesday to propel Rohan Dennis into the overall lead. He kept it until van Garderen finished runner-up on Thursday, only to drop to fifth overall on Friday. But last year’s fifth-place finisher at the Tour de France fought back with a runner-up result to Froome to take an 18-second lead into the final stage.
Sport Director Yvon Ledanois said he was pleased with how the BMC Racing Team twice rallied around its leader: first on Saturday to help van Garderen regain the lead and again on Sunday.
“When you have the jersey the last day, you hope you can deliver the victory,” Ledanois said. “If you had asked us before the race about finishing second overall and winning a stage and having the jersey, we would have been pleased with those results. The good thing is that we know Tejay gave 200 percent. The stronger rider today was Froome.”
