BMC’s Tejay van Garderen recorded his second big American win of the year at the USA Pro Challenge, beating teammate Mathias Frank and Garmin-Sharp’s Tom Danielson to victory at the week-long Colorado stage race. Peter Sagan (Cannondale) took four stage wins and the sprinters’ jersey, Matt Cooke (Jamis-Hagens Berman) the King of the Mountains prize and Lachlan Morton (Garmin-Sharp) finished as best young rider.
Having started the final stage tied on aggregate time, Tom Danielson successfully attacked Chris Horner on the final climb to earn a merited victory to finish an exciting Tour of Utah in which the leader’s jersey changed hands on all but one of its six days.
The seventh edition of the eight-day Amgen Tour of California kicks off on Sunday in Santa Rosa and finishes a week later in Los Angeles. The only UCI 2.HC race in the US, the Tour of Cali brings world-class riders and teams to American fans.
A healthy balance of sprints and climbs – often within the same stage – the Tour of California is popular with riders who want to test their climbing legs in anticipation for their summer in the Alps and Pyrenees. This is also one of the few opportunities for American-sponsored teams like Garmin-Barracuda, RadioShack-Nissan and BMC to show off their best riders to their US fanbase. Continue reading