Stage 15 of the Tour de France, and another chance in the mountains saw Chris Froome and Team Sky once again dominate – but the only real storyline to come from the stage was that Richie Porte once again showed why he must be the outright BMC leader.
The American-based BMC outfit have been trying to run tactics with split leadership between Van Garderen and their off-season signing Porte throughout the Tour, but it is now time to make the call.
No longer can they go on with a pair of leaders. It simply doesn’t work. You need one working for the other, and Van Garderen could turn into a super domestique in the mountains – something that now needs to happen urgently if they want to save the Tour.
The chance for Porte to actually win the race, given he now sits in seventh position over four minutes down on the lead appears gone – but it is more a case of bad luck than bad form or bad riding.
While it must be acknowledged that, exactly as was the case in the Criterium du Dauphine Porte hasn’t been able to put in an attack of any note – then again, neither has anyone else – and despite this he has clearly proven to be the best option for BMC.
On Stage 15, riding up the Grand Colombier which is one of the most famous mountains in the Tour, Van Garderen was just about the only general classification rider to be dropped as Astana moved to the front and set a heavy tempo.
The Astana leader Fabio Aru would mount an attack, followed by Alejandro Valverde and Van Garderen would lose almost a minute and a half, seeing him surrender his position to Porte on the general classification.
Regardless of whether Van Garderen had managed to stay with the front group or not overnight, the decision should have already been made by BMC. Truthfully, it seems to be something they are reluctant to do, and maybe there is merit behind that given the bad luck of Porte not only in this Tour de France, but right throughout his Grand Tour career.
One only needs to look back as far as last year’s Giro d’Italia to see that Porte doesn’t seem to have luck when it comes to riding the three week tours, compared to the seven to ten day tours, which the Australian excels at.
Coming into the Tour, you have to remember that while Van Garderen was struggling through his lead-up races and form, Porte looked to be in some good form at the Dauphine not losing the wheel of Froome all week despite not being able to attack him.
The bottom line is, that form for Porte has carried over to the Tour de France, even taking into account his below expectations display in the individual time trial on Stage 14
When the Tour went up the now infamous stage to Mont Ventoux on Thursday, Porte was the only one out of all the general classification contenders who could match the pace with Froome before Mollema came across the gap.
BMC would be much better off getting their tactics in order before the race returns to the true mountains following a rest day on Tuesday.
To take time from Sky it has been shown time and time again, not just during this year’s Tour de France, but ever since they started their dominant run of results in 2012 that it was going to take aggression and perfect tactics.
These tacts have to be in the form of a two-pronged attack, something that really should have been displayed by both BMC and Movistar during Stage 15 over the Colombier – instead they sat behind Sky and barely looked interested in forcing the race or being aggressive.
It will need to start from Wednesday’s next mountain stage for someone like Porte to come back and maybe claim a podium effort, but it will also take a dedicated team.
BMC also managed to miss a massive breakaway on Stage 15, something that must be addressed given their split resources – even if the resources were for either Porte or Van Garderen a rider in the breakaway is necessary to try and have support late in the stage and let’s face it, apart from their GC riders BMC have looked very shaky adding important to a man in a breakaway, particularly when it is that size.
The ball is in the court of BMC racing and their tacticians, but something needs to be done because it is simply no good having two finishers at the bottom of the top 10 when one could well have finished on the podium with the other’s support.
The Tour de France is disappearing up the road and BMC must make their mind up. Now.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde
brainstrust
Guest
If TJ was going to be a domestique he would sign with Sky for more money just like Porte did in the past. BMC would be a low to mid budget team but they would still pay Porte a lot more than the bottom of the barrel Orica Bike Exchange. Orica Bike Exchange seems to be having the success, you can;t predict who is going to perform at the Start of the Tour , once they do perform then a richer team will buy them up.
Diggs
Roar Rookie
It is becoming a procession again. Team Sky have brought such a strong team this year they have chased down any and all attacks with ease without burning all their matches. To beat Froome this year, multiple teams need to attack. Movistar are the strongest opposition and their tactics seem rather strange. They put riders in the break, yet don't use that advantage. Their patience could be either a masterstroke or an embarrassment. The only feasible chance now isn't for one solitary team/rider ambushing Froome but a consistent attack by multple GC riders or to produce one hell of a time trial. I don't think Quintana will succeed this year. His other GT victory came on the back of an attack when most of the top guys thought the Stelvio was neutralised in the Giro. He needs to use his trump cards more effectively, they have some strong riders and a super domestique in Valverde.
delbeato
Roar Guru
Tactics play a role, but ultimately you have to turn the pedals yourself. Unless Froome has a bad day in the Alps or another disaster (crash etc.) he will win. The best and only thing Porte etc. can do is just keep riding as fast as they can up the hills.
Albo
Guest
It really does look like Froome & the Sky team are just too strong at this stage . But we will have to wait till the Alps to fully confirm. Porte does look stronger than TJ in the mountains but for him to pick up the lost 4 minutes will take a massive effort. On their own Movistar & BMC don't look strong enough to take Sky apart, but perhaps together they might conjure a strategy to give Porte or Quintana a shot at Froome ? Lady luck is surely due to play some part for Porte at some stage.
Simoc
Guest
Maybe the reality is the USA is a huge market and Australia isn't. But TJ maybe isn't winning potential and Porte still has to rid himself of the horror day. Its been a very enjoyable tour to date.But zilch from Quintana at this stage. Things can change dramatically in a few minutes which will keep the guys interested.
Freycinet1803
Roar Rookie
Tejay is not known as an attacker, so don't know if he'll be able to help much. His best asset would be to protect Porte, if Porte was in a position to defend (which he is not). Given Porte is 4 minutes behind Froome, can you see Froome picking not to chase attacks from riders such as Porte on the Alps?? Especially if it is only for 30 seconds or the like?
Scott Pryde
Expert
Very good point and unfortunately, I think you are dead set right. Last night proved beyond all reasonable doubt Porte was the superior man, yet it looked like he was still looking for Tejay as he was dropped.
delbeato
Roar Guru
Both Porte and Van Garderen are flaky in GTs. I believe Porte is the stronger, but that strength doesn't always translate to results when he cracks. Tejay has had some strong results in previous Tours. I don't know that BMC have gotten their tactics wrong. I agree on the need for them to 1-2 attack Froome, but the comments that came from riders in the Froome bunch from last night's stage were that the pace was too high for anyone to try anything. Froome had 2 riders pushing the pace in that group - Woet Poels and Mikel Nieve. He had Sky firepower to cover any BMC attacks. Van Garderen couldn't even hold the bunch, let alone attack it. The importance of team mates is something I find confusing. What precisely would Van Garderen do in support of Richie? There are a few possibilities - give Richie a wheel if he flats again, chase back up to Froome if Richie is dropped, or attack Sky on the hills. But none of those are critical roles - with luck Richie won't flat again, he hasn't been dropped by Froome yet and Van Garderen hasn't yet had the legs to attack Froome or Sky in the hills. I agree that's the best thing he could do to help Richie, but it is tricky given the Sky firepower that Froome has at his disposal. Froome isn't too scared of being attacked with his troops by his side. What Van Garderen could do is sacrifice his GC position and save energy on hard stages, which might mean he has better legs to attack Froome in the mountains. But it's a double-edged sword - Van Garderen is a threat because he's high on GC. Once he's assumed domestique status to help Richie and lost time, Sky don't need to follow his attacks.
Rob Gremio
Roar Pro
I think the problem is that Van Garderen is American, and BMC is an American team. Porte is clearly superior, but I sense that they are reluctant to back him in over TJ because Richie isn't from the US. Time for them to make the hard decision, I think, otherwise, as you say, the TDF will disappear up the road.