At age 23, Tejay Van Garderen continues to quickly climb the ranks of professional cycling. After a starting with Rabobank’s U23 squad, Van Garderen moved over to HTC-Columbia before joining BMC for 2012.
The Amgen Tour of California is a big target for the American stage racers, who finished fifth last year. More recently, Van Garderen showed his ability by placing fifth at Paris-Nice this March.
Cyclingnews’ Laura Weislo caught up with Van Garderen to talk about his recent successes and his hopes for this year’s race in California.
Van Garderen is racing a BMC Team Machine SLR01, a frameset that's claimed to weigh a little more than 900 grams. As with BMC’s other bikes, the Team Machine is quite angular visually, including its proprietary seatpost that is wider side-to-side than front-to-back for compliance.
Although he stands 6'1" (1.85m) tall, Van Garderen rides a 55cm frame, in part so that he can get as low as he likes in front. Note the stem slammed all the way down on the frame. And speaking of the stem... he runs a 140 to get his position as long as he prefers. Many pros often go this route of sizing down on frames. Cannondale created a frame for Peter Sagan, triple-stage winner at the 2012 Amgen Tour of California, that achieves the long-and-low position using a long top tube and a 120mm stem.
Like many pros, Van Garderen uses an aluminum handlebar. This practice is often done for post-crash safety — meaning that a rider and bike can hit the deck and be up and running within seconds without having to strip off the handlebar tape to check for cracks in a carbon fiber bar. If an aluminum bar is broken, it is usually immediately apparent.
Check out the gallery at right for all the details on Van Garderen's rig. And be sure to follow all the action from the Amgen Tour of California on Cyclingnews.com.
Complete bike specifications
- Frame: BMC Team Machine SLR01, 55cm
- Stem: Easton EA70, 140mm
- Handlebar: Easton EA70, 42cm (c-c)
- Front brake: Shimano Dura-Ace BR-7900
- Rear brake: Shimano Dura-Ace BR-7900
- Shift/Brake levers: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 STI Dual Control ST-7970
- Front derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 FD-7970
- Rear derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 RD-7970
- Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace CS-7900, 11-27T
- Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace CN-7900
- Crankset: Shimano Dura-Ace with SRM, 53/39T
- Bottom bracket: Shimano Dura-Ace
- Pedals: Shimano Dura-Ace
- Wheelset: Easton EC90SLX
- Front tire: Continental Pro Competition tubular, 22mm
- Rear tire: Continental Pro Competition tubular, 22mm
- Saddle: Fi'zi:k Antares
- Seatpost: BMC Team Machine SLR01
- Bottle cages: Elite
- Computer: SRM
Critical measurements
- Rider's height: 1.85m (6ft 1in)
- Rider's weight: 67kg (148lb)
- Saddle height, from BB (c-t): 78cm
