Criterium du Dauphine runner-up Tejay van Garderen hopes of upsetting the odds to claim a Tour de France podium place will be backed by a strong BMC Racing line-up.
The American team will be led by van Garderen at the Tour, which starts in Utrecht on Saturday July 4, as the 26-year-old bids to improve on fifth placed finishes last year and in 2012.
Giro d’Italia top-ten finisher Damiano Caruso and 2010 Tour runner-up-by-default Samuel Sanchez will offer valuable support in the mountains, while former Hour Record holder Rohan Dennis will bid for success on the stage one time trial.
Alongside Sanchez, van Garderen and Dennis, Italian duo Daniel Oss and Manuel Quinziato and Swiss rider Michael Schar all race on the back of the Criterium du Dauphine, meanwhile, where the American team won the team time trial.
Greg van Avermaet and Danilo Wyss complete a balanced team, which is well-equipped to support van Garderen on the cobbled stage five, against the clock on stage nine and in the high mountains.
With 2011 Tour champion Cadel Evans having retired after a final farewell at the Tour Down Under earlier this year, van Garderen is regarded as BMC Racing’s next big hope for the Grand Tours.
Having narrowly missed out on Criterium du Dauphine success, after Chris Froome usurped him on the final stage, he starts as an outsider at the Tour behind Froome, Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) and defending champion Vincenzo Nibali (Astana).
BMC Racing for 2015 Tour de France
Tejay van Garderen (USA)
Damiano Caruso (ITA)
Michael Schar (SUI)
Rohan Dennis (AUS)
Greg van Avermaet (BEL)
Daniel Oss (ITA)
Manuel Quinziato (ITA)
Danilo Wyss (SUI)
Samuel Sanchez (ESP)
