USA Today reports on Christian Vande Velde’s unexpected success so far in his sixth Tour de France.

From the article: “Christian Vande Velde is a dangerous rider,” said the American’s former CSC teammate Jens Voigt. “Not enough people talk about him, but he is an excellent time trialer. He is still very close and within striking distance.”

Vande Velde left the powerful CSC team to join the fledgling Boulder, Colo.-based Garmin-Chipotle squad this season, and transformed himself from a domestique — or support rider — to team leader.

“That’s the biggest difference. So many times I’ve had decent form but I’ve always been riding for a great leader, whether it be Lance or (Ivan) Basso or Carlos (Sastre),” Vande Velde said.”