Nebraska Cycling News

National Development Team Rider Places Fifth in Time Trial, Second in Stage Six
 
Santander, Spain.  - USA Cycling National Development Team athlete Tejay Van Garderen (Fort Collins, Colo.) finished second overall at the Circuito Montañes, an eight-stage UCI 2.2-ranked multi-day race in Spain.  Van Garderen, 19, was competing for his Rabobank Continental squad which also earned the overall team title when the event concluded on Tuesday.

For Van Garderen, his performance at the Circuito Montañes was his second major podium performance in a UCI stage race this season. Last month, while competing for the National Development Team, he placed second overall, won a stage, and finished first in both the Best Young Rider and Points classifications at the Fleche du Sud in Luxembourg. That performance also led to an overall team victory for the National Development Team.

Van Garderen was the latest of the program’s athletes to make the jump to a European-based pro team and currently splits his time in Europe between Rabobank and USA Cycling’s Belgium-based development squad.

In Spain, Van Garderen finished 49 seconds off the pace of overall winner Alexey Shcheblin of Russia after seven days of racing. His defining moment came in stage six when Van Garderen finished second in the 147-kilometer race from Torrelavega to Santo Toribio – a result that moved him into second place overall.

Van Garderen also scored three other top-ten stage finishes, placing fifth in the 14-kilometer individual time trial stage and recording a pair of ninth-place efforts in stages 4 and 5a.