Team Garmin Transitions’ Christian Vande Velde crashed today during stage 3 of the Giro d’Italia, suffering a broken right clavicle and forcing him to withdraw from the race. He will undergo surgery tomorrow in Antwerp and after that will work with the team’s medical staff on a recovery plan. “The amount of support I’ve received is overwhelming, so I just want to thank everyone. You never want to leave a race like this, and it is frustrating that it has happened for the second year in a row here, especially coming off Tyler’s win yesterday. I really wanted to be here to be a part of everything that comes next – whether it be helping David get into pink or just being part of the team here. I’ll be rooting for them at home, though, and I will do everything I can to be on the start line at the Tour de France,” said Vande Velde. Vande Velde crashed on Stage 3 of last year’s Giro d’Italia, sustaining five broken vertebrae, a broken pelvis and broken ribs. He came back to finish 8th in the Tour de France. “Christian is incredibly strong and motivated. He has proven that over and over again,” said Matt White, director, Team Garmin-Transitions. “We will make sure he gets everything he needs to be able to heal, but he has already showed the world what he can come back from. The team will continue to race hard here at the Giro and we’ll be thinking of Christian.”