American stage race specialist Tejay van Garderen will rebound from a difficult Tour de France by competing in the Vuelta in August, the BMC Racing Team聽.
The American dropped out of the Tour during Stage 17 because of illness. He was in third place before dropping and had been riding well.聽
Adding the three-week Spanish race to his schedule means van Garderen will be unable to defend his title at the USA聽Pro Challenge, the Colorado stage race he鈥檚 won in the past two years, since the races happen at the same time.聽
鈥淭his is 100 percent my decision. It would be nice to go out and try to win the USA Pro Challenge again,鈥 van Garderen said in the press release. 鈥淏ut after what happened at the Tour, I need to prove myself on a bigger scale.鈥