BESANCON, France — Tejay van Garderen of the U.S. regained the Tour de France white jersey for best young rider Monday after a blistering performance in the time trial.

The 23-year-old cyclist from Montana, who many think will one day contend for the yellow jersey, finished fourth in the ninth stage and moved up to eighth place in the overall standings. He also regained the white jersey he wore during the first six stages.

At the first time check, Garderen was three seconds faster than Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara. At the second time check, van Garderen was still leading, but his margin was down to two seconds. He couldn’t maintain the pace over the last 6 miles and finished nine seconds behind Cancellara and 1:06 behind stage winner and yellow jersey holder Bradley Wiggins of Britain.

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The BMC Racing rider and teammate of Tour champion Cadel Evans said he surprised himself in the nearly 26-mile ride.

“I started out thinking ‘OK, be conservative, save energy, don’t go too deep because I need to be there in the mountains later on,'” van Garderen said. “But then after I heard the first split I was like, ‘Oh, man, I’m having a good ride, better keep it going.”

Van Garderen’s main job in the Tour is to help Evans win the yellow jersey, especially in the upcoming Alps stages where the American’s climbing skills will be put to the test.

“I had to promise Cadel I wouldn’t crash,” van Garderen said, laughing.

Only two Americans, Greg Lemond and Andy Hampsten, have won the Tour’s white jersey. Both went on to win Grand Tours, Lemond the  Tour de France and Hampsten the Giro d’Italia.

Van Garderen says repeating that feat is “not the main goal, but it would be a nice treat.”