Cadel Evans and the BMC Racing Team enjoyed a smoother ride to the finish Monday, one day after an attack by tacks thrown onto the road created chaos for the peloton.

Tejay van Garderen enjoys another day on the podium as the race’s best young rider. (©BMC/Tim de Waele.)

Rest Day Is Tuesday
On a day when the peloton finished nearly 12 minutes after a five-man breakaway, BMC Racing Team’s Tejay van Garderen said the tense moments of Sunday’s stage were only a memory. “We’ve definitely put yesterday behind us and we’re ready to tackle the hard stages,” van Garderen said. “Cadel Evans is the kind of guy who never gets unmotivated about anything.” Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ-Big Mat) took the stage win in a two-up sprint against Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Sharp) as the overall standings remained unchanged. Evans remains fourth overall, 3:19 behind race leader Bradley Wiggins (Sky Procycling), as the Tour de France enjoys its second rest day Tuesday.

Surprisingly Tough Day
Van Garderen – who is leading the race’s best young rider classification and sitting seventh overall – said Monday’s 158.5 kilometer stage was far from an easy one. “It was one of the days that you look at on the profile and think it’s a nice easy cruise into the race day. But it was anything but. The roads were rough and up and down over 2,000 meters of climbing.” Van Garderen said he is looking forward to the rest day, but already has the final five stages on his mind. “Generally, the Pyrenees are a bit harder than the Alps,” he said. “The roads are a bit rougher. they’re just a bit far more taxing. The race is far from over. We still have two monster days to get through and a long time trial.”