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DESTINED FOR THE BIKE (VANDE VELDE) | ROADMAN PODCAST

with Roadman Podcast

31:42·6 April 2023

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ROADMAN PODCAST

Christian Vande Velde sits down to discuss his unexpected journey from pro cyclist to broadcasting veteran, his famous 1999 Tour de France win with the US Postal Service team, and how the sport has evolved—especially around talent development, training methodology, and the osmosis effect of growing up around cycling greatness.

Key Takeaways

Osmosis is powerful in sport: Kids like Enzo Hincapie and Ashlyn Barry absorb pro-level knowledge and movement patterns just by living around elite cyclists, giving them an enormous advantage that can't be taught in a book.
Modern junior cyclists are overly specialized too young; they're training better at 14–15 than most pros were at 25–28, which may shorten careers despite better longevity potential.
The UCI relegation system to manage cycling's calendar damages spectacle by forcing strong teams to miss marquee races just to collect UCI points—fans want to see the best riders competing at the biggest events.
Cycling has a serious accessibility problem: complex rules (young rider jerseys, intermediate sprints, three-week formats), high costs, and lack of local racing infrastructure make it harder to onboard new fans compared to other sports.
The psychology of team presence matters tactically: The US Postal Service approach of controlling the front with multiple riders creates a psychological advantage that makes competitors lose belief, regardless of actual fitness.
Retirement from professional sport isn't easy, even when voluntary; finding identity beyond the bike requires intentional effort, though returning to cycling later as therapy—not obligation—reveals its true value.

Expert Quotes

"I didn't think I'd really ride my bike that much at all [after retiring]... it didn't take long to realize that oh my goodness I need the bike I love it and it's therapy."

"We weren't the best and a lot of times we were dying a thousand deaths while we were on the front but psychologically behind them everyone thought that we were just unstoppable even though we kind of sucked in honesty."

"When I saw Franco [Pella] crying [after the pink jersey moment], I realized like holy [ __ ] this is so much bigger than I thought... that also gave me the belief system going into the Tour de France that year."

KEY QUOTES

“when Lance won the Tour de France in 99 and that still was our fault but it got a little bit better because at this point I'm this 98 was my first year the Italians own the Peloton and it's crazy to think that think about that transition as well there's a lot of Italians in the Peloton but what teams are there there's no teams zero not in the world tour”
Christian Vande Velde — Former professional cyclist, NBC Sports cycling commentator

“coming home you know eyes sunken in complete bonked off our face and think of that as a rite of passage oh yeah I killed myself today oh stupid you got nothing out of your training you know then eat the house down and then put on a kilo or two because you just ate 20 pounds of pasta when you got back home”
Christian Vande Velde — Former professional cyclist, NBC Sports cycling commentator

“the amount of I would say just focus is required today especially on diet and lifestyle has to be the Tipping Point for a shorter career just because it's not conducive for a long one I mean it's it's so hard to live like that day in and day out and the off season is what four days long now it's not it's not a month or two”
Christian Vande Velde — Former professional cyclist, NBC Sports cycling commentator

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT9 SECTIONS

Calling races remotely from home

Christian welcome to the robot cycling podcast thank you my dude good to be here good to have you here how's life it's good man just got done calling Perry niece with Bob roll stage number three I haven't told you any of the results because I don't want to give them away it's been a fun race and it's always interesting to be calling a race remotely Bob's all the way across the country I'm on the East Coast he's on the west coast yeah I'm just thankful that I have such a good friend to call the races with so yeah I just got done with doing that for the last three hours and I'm here with you I was at work I was shocked when you logged on I was expecting you to be in some sort of flashy studio and you're at home yeah this is a positive result of covet instead of having people come into what was for NBC at least Stanford Connecticut where the Hub of all NBC Sports is they made remote units to go with pretty much everyone and I believe David Miller was doing the same thing for ITV in Europe or in England and it's really started with golf and they pulled it off with golf and this is like two or three months into covid was I think one of the first real big organized Sports was a golf tournament no fans obviously just the golfers it worked greatly all those guys did it from their homes in Arizona and Florida and then we fouled suit later on with the dolphinite doing that and it's it's been fantastic there is a bit of a delay which is inconvenient at times it's kind of like an old school long distance phone call that you would have where you have a delay back and forth so for quick-witted things you know when you're having things you just want to say if that's funny back and forth that puts a damper on it but apart from that it's pretty easy and the fact that I come downstairs with my coffee my pajamas and call races at four o'clock in the morning it's much better than being in a hotel it's got a bit of a Pulp Fiction shot where we're starting at the end rather than starting at the beginning since finishing up with bike racing because for a lot of our European listeners they don't see you doing your palm the tree role on TV analysis work so they're like whoa here's a blast for the past what have you been up to I was like it's been great man I mean it's not easy to retire and anyone says it's been an easy transition they're lying I mean I don't care what sport you're coming from especially if you're lucky enough like myself to have a long career I will say that on that note though I was lucky to retire when I wanted to retire I wasn't forced into retirement so that was already a positive but nonetheless it's not easy to transition so I just jumped into everything man I was a money manager for a year I helped out with the CPA and I just we started our own Union here who wasn't represented here in the United States so I was president of that for last seven years just really honestly just went everywhere and then broadcasting as well and then moved to from a different state it was in Chicago when I would be finished in gerona and we realized that there's no way that we could live in Chicago anymore that's where my wife and I both grew up and so now we live in Greenville South Carolina so it's been a full gas last 10 years and then fast forward to the last year and a half two years we've been started with a breakaway which we've talked about before with Jordan Corbett and that's been fantastic this is kind of like going to graduate school or business school for me to to be a part of the Breakaway right now as well so yeah pretty Bruns had my fingers in a lot of different things and um but the constant has been broadcasting for the last 10 years and it's incredible to say that I'm on my 10th year now I can't believe it I mean this is not a career path that I ever looked forward to I was like oh I can't wait to I'm going to try to get into broadcasting afterwards I never thought for a million years I would ever do this but here I am so the generation before yours you're kind of sandwiched in the Middle where you look at Reuters now the big stars are the equivalent Stars at the level you were you know you know rolling fort in the Tour de France these guys are absolutely set for life in terms of the amount of cash they're making sure the generation

Generational wealth in cycling

Before you they definitely weren't like we're seeing you know Paul kimmich still writes for our local newspaper over here that we wasn't really important tour so it's maybe not a brilliant analogy but most of the guys from that generation you know they're still working they're still hustling your generation's sitting in the middle yeah you guys make enough money to sail off into the songs I'll just stop right there no no there's no way um I mean I was I was luckily I had really good tutelids from my parents about saving money and putting money in places that will grow in the future um did okay in real estate a couple times but for the most part no there's no way um not with the lifestyle that I would like to lead with my my friends and family um so and I don't I wouldn't want to be retired anyways Anthony what are you gonna do just keep a ride your bike I mean it'd be horrible I still get to ride my bike a couple times a week and four or five times I'm I'm happy um you know what honestly when I retired from the sport I didn't think I'd really ride my bike that much at all I hated it at times you know I had so much injury I didn't feel comfortable on the bike I really thought of it as an occupation not a lifestyle and it didn't take long to realize that oh my goodness I need the bike I love it and it's it's therapy you know to be surrounded with great friends as well and I have the luxury of riding with George and Kappy and Bobby julick two of my old teammates and some of my best friends on the planet in my backyard I mean I do not take that for granted at all what's going on with I know I want to get into chat about your dad who's obviously a massive influence on your choice to become a cyclist but we're seeing it so often now like a friend of mine I know your ex-teammator Michael Barry his young lad Ashlyn super Rider at the moment George's kid looks like he's killing it at the moment as well I thought the expression was showing me a great man that's a son of a great man I love that expression and I agree with it as well um you know my dad was my hero growing up so I I always just wanted to do everything he did so from three or four years old I was already riding bikes with my dad you know when he would start his ride and I'd hear the the tires being pumped up you know he always rode tubulars because he's old school you hear you know 120 PSI in the garage and and I would wake up at 5 30 and I'd run over there and ride and take my little Schwinn Pixie for the first you know three or four miles with him then he bring me back home and then he'd go out for his 40 50 mile ride and that's how I grew up you know just emulating everything my dad did um and then of course you know as a teenager you're like well if my dad could do it it can't be that hard right it's something ridiculous mentality um but yeah then fast forwarding now and getting to see the kids I mean I I literally have seen Enzo since he was born you know with us in in Girona or back in here in Greenville the pictures I have of him I'm going to be able to embarrass him for the end of the days um and same and same thing goes with Ashlyn you know as we all grew up as small families in Girona and gerona wasn't the city that it is today there wasn't 120 some Pro cyclists in town it was just a small community of people Michael was my roommate and George lived across the street and there's only a few of us and then we just made it happen really so to see the new generation coming up and I agree with you with your statement is it doesn't always happen with kids but you know I always tell people if well if my dad was Greg Norman maybe I would have been playing golf but he isn't and you know I've known guys like Jim Oak Jim akowitz for example he said come over and take my bed when I was one years old and two years old literally changed my diapers you know they became my bosses later on so it's like it kind of Born Into the didn't I didn't know how much I knew is it like probably the best way and I think the same thing goes with Enzo he doesn't appreciate you know or hey I think he appreciates I don't think he apprec he realizes how much

Ashlin Barry's natural talent

He knows without reading a book you know without the kind of now the steps you need to take if your father isn't one of the best professional cyclists of all time like George was yeah it's funny I think that osmosis is so powerful a friend of mine hosts a race uh just north of Toronto called Helen North and Ashland won it last year and after race he rang me and he was telling me that it was the wildest thing he said Michael was on the front of the break because he's back riding a little bit and he's driving the brake clear and he said Ashland will sit behind them but he said just the way he carried himself and the way he moved on the bike he's like he looked like a world tour Rider the way he changed his arm warmers like he took his hands off the bars for like two seconds and the arm arms were off he said he's just picked up so much from living like around you guys his whole life yeah and he's got the double whammy let's not forget about Didi his mom not so bad Ryder herself um you know second place in the Olympic Games I mean Didi demet at the time now Didi Berry um I we grew up with them as well she was in the midwest she was grew up in Milwaukee so only about it an hour and a half two hour drive from Chicago so yeah they have the double whammy and what they did in their lifestyle really the berries that is they always commuted on the bikes even though they lived downtown Toronto they're always on a bike in some form of transportation and just having fun whether it be a even holiday I think beyond the bikes at some point in time and Ashton just grew to it and how good he is like you said like looking like a professional and Annie 6-3 by the way Anthony he's a big boy he's a big boy big 15 year old and he's he's got all he's got all the everything in his quiver though he could Sprint he could time trial and the biggest thing he has on everybody else is we don't have so much racing anymore for the kids whereas I I could have gone every rate every weekend and race A different race when I was a teenager these days the the races are few and far between so what Ashland has is the track and I I encourage any youngster out there listening to this the the race on the track as much as possible and that's that's how I cut my teeth on the sport and just learning a little bit of Acumen about how you handle yourself within the Peloton going for Sprints how you line up for Sprints all these kind of things that take a little bit a while to learn if you're just doing a criterium here and there so because your dad was two three-time national champ and a couple of Olympics all on the track yeah he uh two-time Olympian five-time national champion um then he's one of the first professionals from the United States to try their hand in six day racing over in Europe before anyone is even riding thinking about riding on the road that's unreal yeah I mean it's it's crazy to think back it really wasn't that long ago when I started you know that he was this is 72 and then turning professional and not being able to race at all in the United States I mean everyone was amateur right so there's only five professionals what are you gonna race against each other five you guys together on the track if he's ridiculous so and then fast forward going to living in Rotterdam in some horrible basement apartment for many years so yeah he he definitely uh it was not easy for those guys to to really get into the mafia over in the six day scene it's absolutely not I'm thinking about your dad make enough step over to Belgium and you know that was ridiculous amount of friction to get over and do that but also when you were making the the step it wasn't exactly smooth transitions it wasn't Google Maps to go over and find your way around what was that transition like from amateur into the pro right oh man I mean we still had the same same stigma you know as any you yourself included being English speaking in general it was always our fault you know the Italians would blame us for everything if there's a crash in the Peloton you could be like a hundred Riders away [ __ ] it deal Connie Americano is always our fault like then finally we started realizing no we you know we could talk back to them and really and stick up for ourselves and really the mentality started changing and when Lance won

Italian riders disappearing from peloton

The Tour de France in 99 and that still was our fault but it got a little bit better because at this point I'm this 98 was my first year the Italians own the Peloton and it's crazy to think that think about that transition as well there's a lot of Italians in the Peloton but what teams are there there's no teams zero not in the world tour it's crazy to think that it's yeah they're definitely gone as a force like I'm thinking about those big patreons to the Peloton like chipolini like you just look like a scary dude like there's no comparison to that in Italian writers at the moment no bunyo I mean the Italians of the head back then ballerini got arrested Seoul I mean there's there was just so many people out there like that um just bigger than Life personalities as well on and off the bike not like chippo thank goodness there wasn't so many as Legends there could only be one chippo uh but no it's true there is there's no one who's dominant I think that's you know everything changes and change is good and I think for the most part it's good because we the biggest difference between then and now and what I say and why I'm such a still such a massive fan of the sport is that the depth of the sport is so vast where you only had a few people who could win a race who used to enter and the top Echelon of sport was a lot smaller than this today and now you got guys all the way back we could still do six blocks per kilo it doesn't matter where you are in the sport it's it's incredible the amount of Firepower from head to toe and that's why it's so dangerous in the sport too because there's so much pushing and shoving within the Peloton not that high or top of the pyramid where it's so much smaller where you wouldn't even dare go into the front yeah and the respect seems to be gone chatting with guys who are in the bunch now and I've been there for the last 10 15 years they said it's just changed and every year it's getting worse like there's kids coming into the sport now who have literally never known life without Aero sucks hear everything I mean I mean we kind of wreck the sport in Garmin you know we were the first people to to have skin suits going at the shops these day and people are giving a [ __ ] about that you know now they don't start a race without a skin suit you know I mean it's like everything has changed so vastly but as far as respect goes yeah of course I mean if you've got kids who are so strong and they could do things coming out of the junior ranks like we're talking with the Juniors we're talking about with Ashlyn and Enzo um they will be signed most likely if they continue this progression straight out of the junior ranks and they could have sometimes the horsepower but not necessarily the knowledge of how things go so sometimes sometimes it is respect sometimes it's not but um yeah I'm happy to be on this side of the camera now and uh not inside the terror Dome with those guys right now because it's a it's a brutal sport it just gets harder and harder but you think they're going to have the same longevity in their career no for you like 15 17 years now I agree and especially signing Pro as a 19 year old and having that kind of pressure and backing up even farther training as you need to be training already as a 15 60 year old but the good part is they're training professionally and they're training with people who know what they're doing so they're gonna not leave them astray you know that we did everything wrong especially with diet oh my goodness I mean don't get me started with how bad our diets were um you know coming home you know eyes sunken in complete bonked off our face and think of that as a rite of passage oh yeah I killed myself today oh stupid you got nothing out of your training you know then eat the house down and then put on a kilo or two because you just ate 20 pounds of pasta when you got back home uh it's it is interesting and I think it's it's just really backing up the to the 14 15 year olds already training better than most 25 and 28 year olds did when they were professional in the 90s and 2000s early 2000s so that's the biggest change in whether or not they'll be professional for 15 to 18 years like we see most of my generation yeah I kind of doubt it but that's okay just like you brought up immediately was

Periodization across a career

You know if you if I was to get fourth place today I would definitely made a lot more money than I I did you know 15 years ago yeah I think about the concept of periodization and training and you know for anyone that's not too familiar it's periodization it's the idea that we're gradually building up towards some sort of peak and then we take a little bit of a taper and then it's our main event we we think about that a lot of the time on a micro scale like building up towards of events but if you think about that on a macro scale over the course of someone's career somebody used to come in they put their tees in u23s neopro for a little bit learned the ropes graduate within a team up to a point and you have your two three years where you have a shot at really hitting the big races you know you're a protected reuter for a couple of years but now look I've you know Jay Vine's been on the podcast a bunch of times and you listen to his lifestyle everything is weighed everything is measured from sleep to movements to ketones then it's like where's the progression on this how do you periodize that in year two how do you tighten the belt in your tree four five six it's just it looks impossible yeah well let's let's just call a spirit of Jesus special character I mean I I follow this career I'm a big fan of what he's done in a short amount of time coming from where he came from um but he's a special character he is so by the book and it's it's truly just it's his lifestyle from from start to finish I don't know if you know pick on the other opposite side Peter Sagan has never even seen a scale he doesn't know how much he weighs he doesn't even look at the road book you know obviously he's been putting out he's going out to pasture at the end of this year as well um but yeah it's it's still a massive shift I mean I don't think Ted is exactly with the same mentality as Jay Vine would be um but it's it's always interesting to have cyclists and professional Cycles at the highest highest end of support or any sport there is you have so many different personality variables but yes the the amount of I would say just focus is required today especially on diet and lifestyle has to be the Tipping Point for a shorter career just because it's not conducive for a long one I mean it's it's so hard to live like that day in and day out and the off season is what four days long now it's not it's not a month or two it's it's like oh you had a break and then you're back on the bike doing incredible intervals already because you have to get ready for December Camp which is insane to me it's hard even as a spectator watching about the cycle it is you know and you know back in 2005 when they brought the at the pro tour at the time um it made sense to really just have all the best Riders at the biggest races and that's all we want as a spectator because we don't want to have and we understand the beginning of the year right now is a great example having Perry niece and trainer Adriatica going on at the same time so you kind of have a little bit cut in half maybe have some better sprinters and Pyrenees but maybe not as good GC Riders and or vice versa um the only the good thing about the Tour de France is that that is the one race where we have truly the best riders in the world taking place if it is there is just almost too much of it going out at all times and you always want as a spectator to be have the best and the one on the day but do you think I agree with you about the tour it's the best Reuters competing against each other but does the UCI relegation system flow in the face of that because we're seeing last year Israel not send and set for a mark to the tour to go home to shitty One Day races to get points who wants to see that no no one wants to that last year was a mess on so many different levels and you saw the same thing with ef and you saw Lotto there's a ton of those teams like that Jayco is the same way Matt white wasn't bringing grown away into the Volta for example which he could have most likely got a couple stage wins from um it was a mess but it did wake up a lot of teams um and ef's a great example of that I mean they're

Cycling's accessibility problem

Absolutely crushing this season I mean 10 wins already and from different Riders as well and and same thing goes with a lot of they're doing fantastic I don't delete the next Superstar are sprinting so I I I'm against it as well I don't I don't like it um but at the same time we have to have something where we can't have such a massive amount of professional cyclists all the time and some of the smaller races are the ones that need to go that I I mean I hate to say that because I love the small races you want to see growth everywhere in this in the sport but as a spectator and as a business model we need to be able to see the best Riders when you flip on the television screen you don't want to see three guys and well where is so-and-so and where is so-and-so well if he was here what it would have been did you play that Coulda Woulda Shoulda game and really the only time we get to not say that is at the tour with the Breakaway ah like you've had a big focus on onboarding users of various different grounds and abilities like I have friends who are just getting into cycling for the first time and I've recommended the Breakaway up to them and they love it well do you think cycling has a problem broad or not trying to onboard people like I have to work I gotta say pretty intensively with my girlfriends to get her to buy into watching cycling that's why she just didn't know what was going on like try explaining the sword of France to someone that like to an alien that comes down you're like it's three weeks long there's a race every day but we race over three weeks why are they sprinting for the top of that mountain where are they sprinting for that intermedius you know young leaders jersey you could be under 25 and go for this white jersey but it doesn't really matter because everyone is going to win yellows under 25 anyway it's just really confusing what's going on yeah you know it's it's hard it's it's not the most approachable sport in the world let's just put it that way it's a lot like golf in that regard you may sometimes even worse just because let's not forget about the the cost that's involved as well um and now what I said earlier like the lack of racing there is like well how do I even get to that point where is the where's the local Club that's going to steer me in the right direction where's the coach where is the next race do I have to drive you know four states just to see the first race at Grand Fondo I mean for the greater good cycling's in a good place I believe with the Grand fondos and gravel scene things like that and that's a little bit more approachable than most but how do you you make that giant leap from what you see on the television screen to what you have in your backyard yeah and that's I think that's a million dollar question that not so many people could answer how do you do it on commentary because I guess your commentary is stared towards who's watching but when you're broadcasting such a large audience everyone from the hardcore cycling fan my dad who's gonna like bring you up on your pronunciation of some obscure Belgium yeah it's not easy and it's gotten a lot better because our average viewer is so hardcore we don't have a massive viewership here in the United States but it's very consistent so I think I don't know what's called like half a million people every day and our time isn't great so West Coast we come on air at 3 30 3 o'clock in the morning I mean that's not early in the morning that's late at night right so and so those people are really hardcore where they're watching on demand or what have you and when I first started in 2014 it was a lot like that a lot of hand-holding a lot of you know this is explaining Ad nauseam what's going on but as we've progressively and we made the show a lot better we realize that we can talk to them we they want to be talked to it as adults they know what they're seeing on this television screen so we can get in the weeds a little bit so I like to go push it as far as I possibly can to give them some insight of what's going on and then pull it back and explain that a little bit in a long in a little bit longer to the people who might just be turned on the television for the first time I want to take a slight little left turn and jump back to the beginning of your

1999 Postal tour debut

Career so you're chilling for our Postal in 1998 then you're selected for the 1999 tour which is you know the Redemption tour how do you guys go and win the Tour I've had George on the podcast and he was just talking about how little like you guys knew about control Hunter race how many yellow Jersey like what was that like being inside a team quite a new team winning the biggest bike race in the world oh it's crazy man I mean I remember at home because I didn't even have a house at that point in time so I was standing by parents in between races for I think the month of May and Johann Bruno called up the house phone everyone knows what a house phone is um the house phone and uh and talk to me for example hey could I talk to your dad and he he literally like asked my dad it would be okay if we took your son to the Tour de France because I was so young and you know to your conversation earlier you know Young Riders didn't do the Tour de France because they thought that you know this is going to impede their progression in the sport yeah of course my dad's excited you've talked to Johan of course and be back into the sport he felt like he was attached to it and but that how much of a big deal it was as a I just turn 23 like that day I believe um but fast forward to the race it was just ignorance for for myself at least you know I was I was in the best Young Riders Jersey but actually sorry I take that back we didn't have a jersey I just got flowers every day so I didn't get the white jersey um on the front every day you know and but that's really started the The Psychology and Johan really brought the psychology of of Sydney on the front like inios Dunn like team sky and many teams afterwards because we weren't the best and a lot of times we were dying a thousand deaths while we were on the front but psychologically behind them everyone thought that we were just Unstoppable even though we kind of sucked in honesty I mean we didn't suck but we were just holding on and for Grim death at all times you know in the buses that we had or the I should say the the camper vans that we had like chitty chitty bang bang one and two um I mean I to put it this way I didn't there wasn't even room for me to sit down so I just laid on the floor in the camper van and listened to my Discman listen to Beastie Boys the whole time so it was like I you know I wasn't supposed to be in the first place so I didn't have that much pressure on me and I just I just had a great time and it it was a truly American team for really the first and last time um maybe 7-Eleven of course in Motorola but really that year was it was a strong American team and we just had a really fun time because we were never supposed to be there in the first place we were you know we were the Bad News Bears and yeah it was it was a it was a really fun race pink jersey was that the 2007 ninja 2007 2008 yeah eight I've had this fan talked on the podcast and he talked to me true with the emotions it was I'm gonna say 2014 and Dublin in the Giro he took the pink jersey um you know his his career he felt like maybe he didn't need it that it wasn't necessary until he got it he said he got it it was just validation for her I just himself but the sacrifice that the family goes through Partners cultural the work that mechanics have done for the years everyone that's invested into you it's just a moment for them did you feel that way absolutely and Sven is one of my favorite people on the planet Earth um he's such a rock star and I've had him on the podcast I'd say twice and I've been on his and anytime I get a chance to talk to him he's just the coolest [ __ ] stories like [ __ ] like that just never happens to me he's probably some wolves and stuff yeah you'll put it this way his dream in life at that point in time when we were teammates was he wanted to he was into Jiu Jitsu and wrestling these kind of things to have be attacked so he wanted to be a ready for attack so if he's just walking down the street that someone's gonna attack him and so we were we were trying to find some guy and I had one of

Winning TT and believing

My old old friends from the Olympic Training Center who was a medalist at the Olympics in Greco-Roman wrestling I was going to hire this this guy just to attack him and that would be the funniest thing ever he would have loved it you know even if he got his ass kicked he'd been so so jeed up for it um regardless uh to your question yeah it was very similar to Mr tuft and I think it was a teen Tom straw I came across the line first um we were flying that day we put a lot of work into it that's when we started with icefest for example that's when the invention kind of thing or not invention but at least in cycling at least for the warm-up protocol from Alan Lim we got a lot of stupid looks and I remember freezing my ass off on the start line and soaking wet because our ice bus sucks a bit so as all the water was down in my shoes and sloshing to the start line and freezing I'm like this better [ __ ] work Alan I'm gonna kill you and and we did a great race obviously one but it wasn't until seeing Franco Pele so I lost it by like a half second the next day and in the world championship course from 1993 a really hard circuit that we did 10 10 12 feet of climate stage number one and I've lost by half a second in a little time Gap I call it an Italian second that I lost you because I don't know still to this day if I really lost or not but uh regardless when I saw Franco up on those stands and him crying then I realized like holy [ __ ] this is so much bigger than I thought you know I was just rolling with it I was trying to defend it you know to spend what point all the sacrifice that my them my wife and being at home with the kids year after year it was a validation to that but then when I saw Franco crying and that also gave me the belief system going into the Tour de France that year as well that changed my mentality that I could really be here that I deserve to be here sorry for my dog barking on the background she gets a little crazy um but yeah that was a that was a massive deal pink jersey you know the the Giro giveth and taketh I mean I hate that race and I love that race all at the same time you know in the fast forward four years later when we won it outright with Ryder Hesh doll still can't believe we did that to this day um and then the races in between where I broke my back the next year with great form before the Tour de France broke five vertebrae in a crazy crash and yeah I mean it's an archaic race that anything could can and will happen the right girlfriend at the time so few people actually knew what was going on in Canada and I was like there's a Canadian enough to win this year at attack it was Thomas again that launched on the stelvio on the last day or they'll see those pictures of you dragging this voice reduced group along it was that was a special day I've told the story many times and Ryder was my teammate or teammate obviously but roommate for years at that point in time and that morning we didn't talk we didn't say good more we said I think we said good morning to each other and that was it like we did not say we knew what was on the line like this is game time dude we could win the jira today and I couldn't believe it and I I stole away and I went on the balcony and shut the door and called my wife and it's like holy [ __ ] Leah I think we we could win the [ __ ] Euro today I'm I don't want to I don't want to curse myself but I think it's going to happen and obviously we never talk to Brian about this and then I signed in early and I sat on the start line for like a half an hour just making sure I was the first person because I needed to get in the Breakaway and then Ryder and I just owned the front of the Peloton until we were in the Breakaway he's like he looked at me you good like I'm good and he drops back in the Peloton and we went away and then I waited on the side of the road for which seemed like 30 minutes as Thomas and those guys are going up the road and I was dying because I had such good legs that I felt like oh man I could win today on

Writing the Giro for Ryder

Top of the Stellar this would be amazing but Charlie regalis comes up to me says gee wait and he's like wait and it's like now it's kind of soft pedaling and he pulls up to me he's like I said [ __ ] wait like stop it because all [ __ ] was going sideways back behind and the Gap was getting bigger because it was only poor Pete's setting up by himself with Ryder and so I just killed a bunch of Cokes and I said here we go and just hit set of my Garmin and pulled like an hour and just was begging begging people for just praying that they're gonna start attacking so I could stop pulling but yeah what what a great and then Roddy did an incredible day there um to top off all the incredible days he had done before and then uh the best time for all of his life in Milan it was it was a really and we parted till like six o'clock in the morning morning on Sunday night it was it was a great it was a great month it was one of the most nerve-wracking finishes to watch I can only imagine what nerves were like as you swung off haven't done your job is there a sense of relief like I've done everything I can or is it still relief filled with players writer don't [ __ ] this up well I had really yeah maybe almost too much confidence in writer in hindsight but uh no I really felt confident that he could do that job yeah and it was prito who's absolutely flying jakima Rodriguez obviously um but it was yeah I had complete respect obviously for for the men and and really respect that he could do his job and he did it and even more so you know jumping up I didn't even take this one you know that we on top when we finished we started the this is the start of the cooldown protocol right so no one cooled down after it finishes you just got on the bus and you know took a shower right so at the top of the stealthy there's an old hotel kind of Cafe kind of place right there I don't know if you've ever been there before but we set up the home trainers like in the lobby in there because it was freezing cold or snow everywhere and Ryder and I are just like on the home trainers and this is a set dude I think we had 6 000 meters of climb in that day so over 20 000 feet is stupid and we're on the train after a seven hour day still riding and people just lost their minds and and even basso went straight to the bar and had a beer I've never seen Evon ever drink in my entire life um so that really just their heads all rolled off um even though that was the best thing we could have possibly done in preparation for the time trial next year the next day but people just didn't appreciate that at the time um so yeah there's a lot of cool things that went on there and whether or not I felt relief obviously I felt relief that I could finally soft pedal for the last five or so K to the top of stelvia but I yeah I had complete confidence that he was going to pull it off Christian I could have thrown this into a six hour or six prior podcast because we didn't scratch the surface of most of the stuff but it's amazing to chat with you I just got an insight into where you're at Tomorrowland thanks for joining me likewise my man

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What did Christian Vande Velde do after retiring from professional cycling?+

After retiring, Christian Vande Velde moved into broadcasting with NBC Sports, covering major cycling events including the Tour de France. He also took on union leadership roles and became involved with The Breakaway, a cycling media venture.

How much did professional cyclists earn in the 1990s and early 2000s?+

Vande Velde explains that riders of his generation were sandwiched between an earlier era of very low pay and today's multimillionaire stars, meaning even a long professional career rarely generated enough to fund full retirement. Most riders from that period needed second careers after racing.

What is the osmosis effect in cycling development?+

The osmosis effect refers to how children of professional cyclists absorb knowledge, culture, and technique simply by growing up around the sport. Vande Velde points to the sons of George Hincapie and Michael Barry as examples, arguing that this passive exposure gives second-generation riders a significant head start over peers who come to the sport fresh.

Should young cyclists specialise early in their development?+

Vande Velde cautions against early specialisation in junior cycling, citing his own late entry into the sport, which was shaped by his father's influence rather than a structured youth programme. Allowing young athletes to develop broadly before committing fully to cycling tends to produce more well-rounded and durable professionals.

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Key Takeaways

Osmosis is powerful in sport: Kids like Enzo Hincapie and Ashlyn Barry absorb pro-level knowledge and movement patterns just by living around elite cyclists, giving them an enormous advantage that can't be taught in a book.

Modern junior cyclists are overly specialized too young; they're training better at 14–15 than most pros were at 25–28, which may shorten careers despite better longevity potential.

The UCI relegation system to manage cycling's calendar damages spectacle by forcing strong teams to miss marquee races just to collect UCI points—fans want to see the best riders competing at the biggest events.

Cycling has a serious accessibility problem: complex rules (young rider jerseys, intermediate sprints, three-week formats), high costs, and lack of local racing infrastructure make it harder to onboard new fans compared to other sports.

The psychology of team presence matters tactically: The US Postal Service approach of controlling the front with multiple riders creates a psychological advantage that makes competitors lose belief, regardless of actual fitness.

Retirement from professional sport isn't easy, even when voluntary; finding identity beyond the bike requires intentional effort, though returning to cycling later as therapy—not obligation—reveals its true value.

Expert Quotes

"I didn't think I'd really ride my bike that much at all [after retiring]... it didn't take long to realize that oh my goodness I need the bike I love it and it's therapy."

"We weren't the best and a lot of times we were dying a thousand deaths while we were on the front but psychologically behind them everyone thought that we were just unstoppable even though we kind of sucked in honesty."

"When I saw Franco [Pella] crying [after the pink jersey moment], I realized like holy [ __ ] this is so much bigger than I thought... that also gave me the belief system going into the Tour de France that year."

KEY QUOTES

“when Lance won the Tour de France in 99 and that still was our fault but it got a little bit better because at this point I'm this 98 was my first year the Italians own the Peloton and it's crazy to think that think about that transition as well there's a lot of Italians in the Peloton but what teams are there there's no teams zero not in the world tour”
Christian Vande Velde — Former professional cyclist, NBC Sports cycling commentator

“coming home you know eyes sunken in complete bonked off our face and think of that as a rite of passage oh yeah I killed myself today oh stupid you got nothing out of your training you know then eat the house down and then put on a kilo or two because you just ate 20 pounds of pasta when you got back home”
Christian Vande Velde — Former professional cyclist, NBC Sports cycling commentator

“the amount of I would say just focus is required today especially on diet and lifestyle has to be the Tipping Point for a shorter career just because it's not conducive for a long one I mean it's it's so hard to live like that day in and day out and the off season is what four days long now it's not it's not a month or two”
Christian Vande Velde — Former professional cyclist, NBC Sports cycling commentator

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What did Christian Vande Velde do after retiring from professional cycling?+

How much did professional cyclists earn in the 1990s and early 2000s?+

What is the osmosis effect in cycling development?+

Should young cyclists specialise early in their development?+

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