The American based, and Swiss financed squad, are often considered to be cycling’s biggest budget super team, although precise figures are hard to find. The reality is that they are likely to have a comparable budget to that of Team Sky, and possibly one or two other teams. Both BMC and Sky have been able to field star studded teams in recent seasons; Sky have frequently deployed their talent as a focused unit in the service of the designated leader, which has reaped dividends for them. However BMC’s approach has tended to be more dysfunctional, with the whole being less than the sum of its parts. Maybe they’ve had too many similar riders, powerful all-rounders and engines, without enough specialists to bring in the results. Perhaps they were guilty of having too many options and not enough focus. There have been a number of good results and some great moments in the last three seasons. Cadel Evans won the Tour (2011), Philippe Gilbert won the road World Championship (2012), Tejay van Garderen won the White Jersey at the Tour de France (2012) and Taylor Phinney wore the Maglia Rosa (2012). However the team hasn’t lived up to its potential and the result of that has been a change in managerial direction for the new season. Allan Peiper takes over with the promise of clearly defined targets for each rider, more manageable race loads for the star riders, and choosing a single team leader for the Tour de France.
That team leader will be van Garderen, as the 25 year old American seeks to properly elevate his racing to a World Tour level. Last season was something of a disappointment for van Garderen, however he did manage to fulfil some of his ambitions when winning the Amgen Tour of California and the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado. It was a different story on European soil, where he started well by finishing 4th overall in Paris-Nice but it went downhill from there. The worst came at the Tour de France where van Garderen suffered from the heat early on; losing his strength and a tonne of time, there was no way back. He did recover some form in the final week, and came agonizingly close to a win on the double Alpe d’Huez stage, but finishing 45th overall will have hurt. van Garderen is a powerful climber rather than an explosive one, and he puts that power to good use as a time trialist. Cadel Evans won’t be returning to the Tour in 2014, instead he will be mounting an assault on the Giro, trying to outperform his surprising 3rd place finish from last season. Evans originally went to the Giro as a desperate gamble to build fitness for the Tour, but managed to find himself in the thick of things before fading in the second half of the race. So this year the Giro is actually the target, with his fitness and racing programs arranged accordingly. The team brings back some veteran support riders for those GC ambitions, with Steve Morabito, Amael Moinard, Stephen Cummings all capable climbers. While Dominik Nerz, Larry Warbasse and Yannick Eijssen are younger riders who have flashed their climbing talent, Nerz in particular looks ready to take the next step in 2014. However it was clear that BMC needed an influx of climbing talent, and the signing of Peter Velits, John Darwin Atapuma, Peter Stetina and Ben Hermans does just that. Velits is a solid stage race rider, and strong all-rounder, who has a 3rd place finish in the 2010 Vuelta to his credit. Atapuma has really impressed over the last two seasons with the Colombia team, his performance on the steep sections during the Tour de Pologne really stood out. He is the most gifted pure climber on the roster, and is already slated to ride the Tour in support of van Garderen. Stetina has shown up well on some mountain stages for the Garmin-Sharp team, and looked like he could do more if given the chance, and Hermans is more of a punchy rider.
Can they make the most of their stage winners?
Despite enduring a difficult year in the Rainbow Jersey, Philippe Gilbert is one of the most successful riders of the current decade. After sweeping the Ardennes Classics in 2011 and racking up the wins, he had a quieter 2012 before springing to life in the Vuelta and finishing the season as the World Champion. Gilbert will be shaking up his race schedule for 2014, trying to stay fresher and regain the explosive burst that made him so strong on the short, steep slopes of the Ardennes in 2011. BMC do have strong support riders who can help Gilbert, none more so than Marcus Burghardt who has a great engine. Greg Van Avermaet is a fine opportunistic stage winner, he has decent sprint speed, climbs well and is well suited to many of same the races Gilbert does well in. He had an excellent campaign on the cobbles in 2013, with 3rd in Gent-Wevelgem, 7th in Ronde van Vlaanderen and 4th in Paris-Roubaix. With Gilbert skipping the cobbles altogether this season, Van Avermaet can expect a large role in those races. Taylor Phinney is a powerhouse time trial specialist, and a developing classics rider. He has a decent turn of speed at the finish, but his fine stage win in Poland was all about the power to hold off the chasing pack. Thor Hushovd may have slowed a little but he remains the team’s best sprinter for now, though he is more of a strongman sprinter and all-round rider. Hushovd, another former World Champion, and definitely still a fan favourite, will have an eye on the Cobbled Classics alongside sprint success. Daniel Oss is a similar type of rider to Hushovd, though without ever reaching the same heights. More intriguing though is the signing of 20 year old Rick Zabel, son of Erik, and a promising young sprinter in his own right, one for the future. Alessandro Ballan has fought his way back from a horrible injury, but he now has to fight his way through the Mantova affair, if he is to contribute to the BMC season.
2014 outlook
BMC have invested heavily in the last few seasons and created a strong squad, now they want to see more prestigious results. Gilbert, Hushovd, Van Avermaet and Phinney look to be the most likely to deliver in 2014. Getting van Garderen back into the top 10 in the Tour de France, combined with success in the one-week stage races of the World Tour, are certainly attainable goals.
The Week in Cycling 