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![Photo: Tejay van Garderen, Tour de France, 17th Stage](https://wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2019/06/ap_613807599607-1.jpg)
Instead, he has opted to race the Vuelta in Spain. Van Garderen told Velo News he needed to prove himself on quote a "bigger scale" after dropping out of the Tour de France with an illness last week. The Aspen resident was in third place in the tour.