in 1988. Vande Velde finished the 2008 Tour de France in fourth place, 3'05" behind the winner Carlos Sastre, and seventeenth in the Olympic Road Race. In the 2009 Tour de France, Vande Velde finished seventh in the overall standings. Vande Velde won the 2008 Tour of Missouri, beating the likes of Michael Rogers () and Svein Tuft (), who finished second and third, respectively. Vande Velde crashed out of the 2010 Giro d'Italia on the third stage with a suspected clavicle break. Coincidentally, in 2009 he was forced out of the Giro after a crash, also on stage three. Vande Velde withdrew from the 2010 Tour de France upon completing the second stage, with two broken ribs. The crash was caused by oil leaking from a fallen television motorcycle. During the 2011 Tour de France, Vande Velde assisted Tom Danielson to a top ten finish, and was an integral part of 's first place in the team classification. Vande Velde finished a close second at the 2011 USA Pro Cycling Challenge, which was ultimately won by Levi Leipheimer (). 2012–2013 In the 2012 Giro d'Italia, Vande Velde was instrumental to the victory of his leader Ryder Hesjedal, protecting him in the mountain stages. He also was Hesjedal's roommate during the Giro, and shared his thoughts about the race, and his teammate in an interview with Velo News, where he stated that winning the Giro was "surreal". Suffering various crashes during the first week, Vande Velde, however, finished second in the fifteenth stage of the 2012 Tour de France, losing in a sprint to the finish to Frenchman Pierrick Fedrigo (). NBC Sports commentator Phil Liggett stated that amongst fans, Vande Velde was considered the most popular rider. In the 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge, Vande Velde put in an impressive performance in the last stage's individual time trial, finishing second to Taylor Phinney of by ten seconds. With that run, he took the leader's jersey off the shoulders of 's Levi Leipheimer, and stepped atop the overall classification podium. During Vande Velde's first race of the season, the 2013 Volta a Catalunya, Vande Velde crashed out with a metacarpal fracture. Vande Velde started the 2013 Giro d'Italia hoping to assist teammate Ryder Hesjedal in a repeat victory, however, Hesjedal withdrew following stage twelve. After Hesjedal's departure, Vande Velde struggled through the race, and finished hundred-tenth overall. Following his disappointing