Christian Vande Velde seeks Tour de France podium

April 30, 2:59 PMCycling ExaminerJames Raia

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Much of the early season Tour de France anticipation has revolved around the pending dominance of Astana. Its “super team” is expected to include Alberto Contador, Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, Andreas Kloden and Haimar Zubeldia.

But the top-end of the field will also include last year's revitalized fourth-place finisher, Christian Vande Velde, the veteran Garmin-Slipstream rider.

With far less fanfare than Astana riders, Vande Velde, 32, a Ilinois native who lives in Boulder, Colo., has fashioned a strong spring season, including a Paris-Nice stage win.

Vande Velde will compete beginning May 9 in the Tour Italy and then has aspirations of a podium finish in the Tour de France.

Andy Hood, the international correspondent for VeloNews, recently profiled Vande Velde in a two-part Q&A. Hood's question choices are astute and make for an interesting read. Here's an excerpt:

VN: What was the biggest lesson you learned last year in the Tour?

Christian Vande Velde: Just having more confidence in myself in a couple of key stages. Maybe I should have attacked at Hautacam or dared to go with Carlos (Sastre). I learned not to have as much hesitation, to be more confident. Yet at the same time, you don’t want to go over your limits. To make it through a Tour like that, if you can not go over your limits, recover, have strength to be there in the key moments, that really pays dividends.

 To read article, visit: VeloNews.com/Christian Vande Velde

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