Lemont Native Christian Vande Velde Wraps Up 10th Tour de France

Lemont native Christian Vande Velde wrapped up his 10th Tour de France on Sunday, finishing in 60th place out of 153 riders.

Vande Velde's team, Garmin-Sharp, had a difficult run after a massive crash involving two dozen riders during Stage 6 on July 6. Among those forced to withdraw were Tom Danielson and Giro d'Italia winner Ryder Hesjedal.

Though Vande Velde escaped the crash with some minor bruises, he was never able to fully recover.

He described this year's Tour in one word: "hard."

"Hard more emotionally than physically — physically because we're all damaged and bruised but emotionally in the sense that we've always done so well with so little," Vande Velde told the Denver Post. "Now we had a really great team this year, and we came away with less than we ever have."

Despite the setbacks, Vande Velde was able to make his mark during Stage 15, when he The mostly flat 99-mile route from Samatan to Pau came down to Vande Velde and French rider Pierrick Fedrigo in the final breakaway, with Fedrigo outsprinting Vande Velde in the in the last 200 yards.

Vande Velde, 36, is no stranger to success at the Tour de France. He was part of Lance Armstrong's winning U.S. Postal Service team in 1999, and finished fourth in 2008 and eighth in 2009. Last year, he and Team Garmin-Cervelo were awarded the team classification title for finishing with the best overall time.

Earlier this month, Vande Velde confirmed he will race again in 2013, despite o. He told CyclingNews that he's currently considering his options for next year, but confirmed he will "definitely ride again."

His contract with Garmin-Sharp—the team he signed for in 2008—expires at the end of the season.

"We'll see what happens. The team and I are still talking. We'll see. I would love to stay with Garmin, there's no doubt about it. It just depends about the racing and what I can and can't do in my last year of racing," he told CyclingNews.

For more on Vande Velde, follow his Twitter account at www.twitter.com/christianvdv.

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