Illinois cyclist Vande Velde wins second edition of Tour of Missouri

ST. LOUIS -- Christian Vande Velde won the Tour of Missouri on Sunday, finishing with the main pack in the rain-shortened final stage.

Vande Velde, the 32-year-old Illinois rider competing for Garmin-Chipotle, edged Australia's Michael Rogers (Team Columbia) by 18 seconds. Svein Tuft (Symmetrics) of Canada was third, 48 seconds back.

"It feels good. I've been close, second and third this year," Vande Velde said. "So it's nice to have a win."

Italy's Francesco Chicchi (Liquigas) won the 53-mile seventh stage by more than a bike-length in 1 hour, 57 minutes, 6 seconds.

Because of flooded portions of the final-day route, the five final-day circuits were reduced from 14 to 10.6 miles and the stage mileage was reduced from 70 to 53 miles.