Hungry to dine at the Tour de France but not allowed a seat at that table, Levi Leipheimer took his appetite to the Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, Oregon, and gobbled down the competition.
The US cyclist who won the Tour of California in February is a member of Team Astana, which Tour de France organizers jilted from the world's biggest race. Not wanting his top form this year to go to waste, Leipheimer headed back to the 6-stage Cascade bike race where he won his first stages in the late 1990s.
Among the Astana team members at the race that ran Wednesday through Sunday, he was joined only by Chris Horner. The domestique to Australia's Cadel Evans before switching to Astana, Horner will be remembered for helping another cyclist to a mountaintop finish — on his back — at this year's classic. Something he never did for Evans.
Check out the photos at The Everyday Athlete, who described the scene:
“As the form approached, I began to realize that Chris Horner was actually giving someone a ride on the back of his bike. Uphill. To the finish. After busting ass to help Levi for 70 some-odd miles.”
Other notables at the Cascade Cycling Classic included a raft of pro racers from Garmin-Chipotle who didn't crack the Tour de France squad. Among them were Tom Danielson, Blake Caldwell, Peter Stetina, Thomas Peterson, Jonathan P. McCarty, and Steven Cozza.
Leipheimer won the general classification by taking the Stage 3 individual time trial by 1:15 over his nearest rival, Jeff Louder of BMC, then staying near the front of the pack at the finish line in the other stages.
The top finishers in the GC were:
1. Levi Leipheimer (AST)
2. Jeff Louder 2.35
3. Darren Lill 2.38
4. Chris Baldwin 2.51
5. Matt Wilson 3.00
6. Blake Caldwell 3.10
7. Brent Bookwalter 3.16
8. Tom Zirbel 3.57
9. Peter Stetina 4.05
10. Tom Peterson 4.11
75. Chris Horner (AST) 27.05
Tip and results from PPOL News.
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