VIDEO: Van Garderen fights on after crashing twice at the Vuelta

BMC Racing's Van Garderen vows to fight on in a bid to finish on the podium at the Vuelta a Espana, after two nasty crashes on stage 6

It was a difficult day for Van Garderen, one that, at one stage, looked very favorable.

Alberto Contador launched a set of blistering attacks on the final second category climb of the Puerto del Garbi. Van Gardren followed the attacks and found himself in a select group of riders including Chris Froome - with other GC riders distanced.

Van Garderen was on the limit, when he and Movistar’s Carlos Betancur hit a bumpy stretch of tarmac that had already brought two other riders crashing down including Jasper Hansen.

BAD CRASH: Jasper Hansen down.  #Vuelta #Vuelta2017 pic.twitter.com/Xxrsp12TZB

— GranFondoGuide (@GranFondoGuide) August 24, 2017

Both riders went down heavily. “It was a bumpy road. I must have just hit something and the hands slipped off the bars, and it all happened kind of fast,” Van Garderen said

After remounting and continuing down the mountain Van Garderen managed to change his bike and pressed on, trying to bridge back up to the Froome/Contador group.

He fought back and nearly caught them, however, following behind the race in between team vehicles, riding flat out, Van Garderen overcooked a roundabout and lost control.

Van Garderen fights on after crashing twice at the Vuelta https://t.co/tYz0wI6bud #vuelta #vuelta2017 #bmc #lv2017 pic.twitter.com/TFYpeF1MXH

— GranFondoGuide (@GranFondoGuide) August 29, 2017

He was instantly back on the bike and continued on chasing.

At the end of the stage he lost 20 seconds, dropped to fourth, 30 seconds down.

He pointed out “I mean, when you really think about it, over three weeks, nothing goes perfectly. It’s more about how you deal with the not-perfect days and take advantage of the good days. I’ve shown I’m in good form. The injuries are pretty minor, the legs are good, morale’s good. So we’ll move forward and try to take advantage of any opportunity we get.".

2017 Vuelta a Espana Stage 6 Top Ten Results

1 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal 4:47:02 
2 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe   
3 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:08 
4 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team   
5 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE-Team Emirates   
6 Warren Barguil (Fra) Sunweb 0:00:26 
7 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida   
8 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky   
9 Fabrio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team   
10 Jack Haig (Aus) Orica-Scott  

2017 Vuelta a Espana Stage 6 Top Ten Results

1 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 22:54:37 
2 Johan Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Orica-Scott 0:00:11 
3 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing 0:00:13 
4 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing 0:00:27  
5 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:36 
6 David de la Cruz (Spa) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:40 
7 Fabrio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:49 
8 Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott 0:00:50 
9 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac 0:01:13 
10 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott 0:01:26