Cycling Update: Tejay Van Garderen Puts on the Polka-Dot Jersey

I've been following cycling for the past 14 years and I think this is the first time I can remember an American wearing the mountain climbers jersey in any of the grand tours.  Of course I could be wrong, but I know this is the first time I've seen an American wearing the climbers jersey and thought, "you know he could win this if his team wants him to win it." 

Problem is HTC didn't bring Van Garderen along to win the mountain jersey, they brought him along to support Tony Martin and Peter Velits their two top GC guys.  And assuming those guys don't completely fall apart that's what Van Garderen will be doing for the remainder of the Tour.  He showed last season that he has great potential as an all arounder, he would be the next American with a shot to win the Tour, but that's down the road for this youngster. 

Meanwhile we're still waiting for the mountains.  The first true mountain test won't come until stage 12, they just completed stage 8, and then we'll have a better sense of things.  My hope is that HTC will let Van Garderen go out tomorrow and defend his mountain jersey.  They wouldn't have a lot to lose as it shouldn't be a decisive stage and Monday is a rest day.  It would be a good test for Van Garderen too to see if he can go out in the lead group two days in a row.  In order to win a mountain jersey at the grand tour level you have to be able to go out ahead of the pack every day in the mountains.

The other big win for the USA is that Team Garmin-Cervelo has managed to keep Thor Hushovd in the leaders jersey since stage two with just a one second lead.  Garmin is not expecting to win the Tour.  They came in shooting for stage wins and a top ten GC guy.  To get Hushovd into yellow with their stage two team time trial win was a big plus for the team and they have fought hard to keep him there.  Hushovd is a sprinter and a classics guy, so he won't survive the big mountains, but so far he and his team have done a tremendous job to stay in yellow. 

The low Americans at this point are Tom Danielson and Christian Vande Velde both 1:57 back and both on Team Garmin-Cervelo.  These guys are in the best position right now to be the lowest overall USA rider.  Others, like Van Garderen and Levi Leipheimer lost critical time trapped behind crashes, while Chris Horner had to abandon after suffering a concusion.