GPS Kids | Team Garmin: Tyler takes stage, Christian crashes out of Giro

The Argyle Armada took a wild ride on the roller coaster of professional cycling’s grand tours, hitting the highest of highs when sprinter Tyler Farrar won the first road stage of the Giro d’Italia – and the lowest of lows when team captain Christian Vande Velde crashed and had to abandon the Giro the next day. Vande Velde’s crash rekindled memories of last year’s Giro, when he broke several bones but was still able to recover in time to finish 8th in France. While this wreck didn’t look as severe, we’re still waiting for official word on the extent of his injuries.

The silver lining from today’s stage is that David Millar (above right) is in third place overall, just a second off the leader. Jake will share updates about Christian’s condition and the race on Twitter at @JakesJournal.

Just a day earlier, Team Garmin was on top of the world. Despite getting caught up in one of the Giro’s many early crashes (at left), Tyler regrouped and a brilliant team effort put him in perfect position to add another Grand Tour victory to his resume. “The team was fantastic. I couldn’t have asked for a better delivery to
the line,” Farrar said to VeloNews.”We’ve put a lot of effort in trying to build one of the strongest
lead-outs in the world. This is a good sign for things to
come in the Giro and the Tour and beyond.”

Stay tuned to the Garmin blog and Team Garmin’s race recaps, as we have nearly three more weeks of action still to come at the Giro – including the team time trial on Wednesday – and the Tour of California kicking off next weekend with Captain America Dave Zabriskie looking to improve on last year’s second-place finish. And of course, join us in wishing Christian all the best as he works toward a speedy recovery.

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