It's been a real up and down ride for US cyclist Levi Leipheimer ever since he signed on with the Discovery Channel pro cycling team last year.
Essentially hired to lead the team for the 2007 Tour de France, those plans were dashed when Discovery hired Italy's Ivan Basso. Then Basso left the team in the spring because of doping allegations, and Leipheimer was the main man again.
Now the 33-year-old from Santa Rosa, California, is having his best Tour de France ever, according to team manager Johann Bruyneel. But he's found himself riding in support of Alberto Contador.
Contador is riding in 2nd place overall, 2-minutes-23 behind Rabobank's Michael Rasmussen. Leipheimer is in 4th place, 5:25 behind Rasmussen and 1:25 behind 3rd place Cadel Evans.
Very professional
Speaking of Leipheimer, Bruyneel said at a Tuesday press conference: “On any other team he'd be the big star. And he's able to deal with that situation very professionally.”
Leipheimer said he'd like to land a podium spot, but to work toward that end on Monday's Stage 15, he would have risked running Evans and Andreas Kloden (who has since dropped out) closer to Contador.
A lot of the top riders have conceded the top two spots to Rasmussen and Contador, he said.
Sacrifices
“They're concerned about that final spot on the podium. And I would love to be there too, but there's a chance to win this race with Alberto and we have to make some sacrifices,” Leipheimer said.
Wednesday's Stage 16 is the last in the Pyrenees, and Contador needs to put some time into Rasmussen to have a chance in Saturday's time trial, “and I can help him do that,” Leipheimer said.
“It's going to be a really hard stage tomorrow and if we're both good at the end, it's possible we'll both gain time.”
See the Discovery team press conference at VeloNews video.
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