Sports
Olympic Cyclists Host 'Tour de Lemont'
Lemont native Christian Vande Velde and his father, John Vande Velde, will host a 20-mile, Olympic-caliber ride Saturday morning.
Area cyclists will have the opportunity to ride with former Olympian and national champion John Vande Velde this weekend as he hosts a 20-mile ride that begins and ends in Lemont.
Vande Velde, the father of Olympic and Tour de France cyclist Christian Vande Velde, has organized a "Tour de Lemont," which will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday in Talcott Square, 435 Talcott Ave. in downtown Lemont.
The ride is a professional-caliber route developed by John for Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid. Cyclists will travel through Lemont's downtown area and various neighborhoods throughout the village.
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The ride is open to all adults and is not designed to be competitive, John Vande Velde said.
"This really isn't a race or anything like that," he said. "We want to showcase Lemont and give people a chance to see the amenities that are here and what can be done to improve them for cyclists.
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John Vande Velde said the idea for the ride came about during a meeting with Jan Yuvan, a consultant hired by the to manage the planning process for Safe Park Zones, Complete Streets and the Active Transportation Plan — all of which are being funded through a
Although Saturday's event has no formal ties to the village, Yuvan assisted Vande Velde in organizing the ride.
"It's a fun, interesting ride that really brings attention to how great of a place Lemont is to bicycle and how much better it could be if improvements were made to the bicycle and pedestrian facilities," she said.
Christian Vande Velde, who finished 17th in the Tour de France in July, announced on his Twitter feed Friday that he would be attending the Tour de Lemont with his father.
"Want to ride tomorrow morning? Going to do a small, very easy ride around Lemont @8am. Everyone is welcome. http://tourdelemont.com," he Tweeted.
John Vande Velde said he is excited that area cyclists will finally get to see his Olympic course, which he hopes will be used in future races.
"It's sort of a 'woulda, coulda, shoulda' thing," he said. "I was obviously disappointed that the route was never used, but by bringing awareness to what we have here in Lemont, I hope it will set the stage for some great things in the future."
For more information or to RSVP, contact Jan Yuvan at 917-696-5343 or jayuvan@yahoo.com, or Keith Nowakowski at keithmtb@mac.com.
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