Tour de France: Tejay van Garderen says consistency key to victory

Tejay van Garderen says consistency is key if he is to stay in contention for the Tour de France yellow jersey.

The 26-year-old American is second overall after nine stages and just 12 seconds off the current race leader, Team Sky's Chris Froome.

Van Garderen’s previous best finish in the Tour was fifth in 2012 and 2014.

The BMC Racing rider looks to be on course to better that result this year and leads some of cycling’s biggest names, including two-time champion Alberto Contador.

"My strength is going to be in my consistency rather than my ability to fly up a climb and leave everyone in my dust, if I'm realistic," said Van Garderen.

"In the Pyrenees, I'm going to need to mark guys that are important and take the opportunities that are there, and use that as an opportunity to let the other guys wear themselves down.

"I think the real race is going to happen in the third week at least. The Tour is not a sprint race, it's a marathon. It's going to be won either on La Toussuire or Alpe d'Huez, so you have to keep a little bit of your power dry."

Van Garderen admits that it will be difficult to plan his racing ahead of the Tour's remaining stages.

"There are also time bonuses at the line which really influences how the race is going to be won," he said.

"We don't know what Sky's tactic is going to be but they might want to let the breakaway win. But then maybe a team like Contador's says no, he wants to race for the bonus seconds. So then his team chases back.

"With all these scenarios, you can't really plan for them, I'm just going to have to see how my legs respond once we get on the climbs."