Our cycling site Podium Cafe is one of the must-read destinations on the Web for any cycling fan. They've provided top notch coverage of all of the spring classics and we haven't even hit grand tour season (that comes very, very soon!). But they also give you insight that you can't really get anywhere else like this interview with American Tejay Van Garderen of the Columbia HTC team. PdC: First I want to talk about your experience this season, obviously you made the big transition to HTC and the pro tour. What’s been the biggest difference in the races you’re doing now that you’re with the big boys? Tejay: With Rabobank we got the chance to do a lot of 2.1 level races with some of the pros, like for instance I did Algarve last year and west flanders last year with Rabobank. But the difference this year I think is that we have different goals going into the race. This year our goal is to win and race at the front, whereas with Rabobank (the continental team, not the pro tour team) our goal was to just sit in, don’t do too much, you’re kind of above your level here, and just do what you can. We’d still try to win the lower level, like amateur races, 2.2 and whatnot, but with HTC it seems like no matter where we go we aim for success, and I think it’s a little bit different race style and race pressure. It’s been good though, they do a good job of not putting too much pressure on the younger guys.
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