Levi Leipheimer showed 2 million cycling fans on the road this week that he had the speed and strength to survive wind, rain and snow to win his third Amgen Tour of California championship.
Finishing 1 second behind the winner in Sacramento's prologue last Saturday, Leipheimer took control of the yellow jersey on Monday and held onto it with the help of his Astana teammates all the way to Escondido on Sunday.
Another US cyclist, David Zabriskie on Garmin-Slipstream, finished in 2nd place and Michael Rogers of Team Columbia finished in 3rd. Lance Armstrong, who rode in support of teammate Leipheimer, finished in 7th.
Palomar
Leipheimer could have found his championship hopes threatened at Sunday's Stage 8. Except for the prologue and time trial, it was the first time Leipheimer found himself without Astana teammates surrounding him.
On the climb up 5,000-foot Mount Palomar, Astana could only drive the peloton so far before falling off the pace. Leimheimer, however, remained in an elite group that included Zabriskie and Rogers. After the race, Armstrong told Bob Roll that “the only stressful moment was over the top…”
This could have been the point where his rivals pulled away, but Leipheimer survived over the summit and was reunited with this Astana teammates on the downhill stretch.
Escondido
That's where Frank Schleck and Vincenzo Nibali launched a two-man breakaway that survived for the remaining 75 miles of the race and resulted in Saxo Bank's Schleck taking the win in Escondido.
Team Astana won the “best team” award. US rider Jason McCartney of Saxo Bank won the King of the Mountain jersey, Mark Cavendish the sprint jersey.
1 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana
2 David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin – Slipstream — :36 seconds behind
3 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia – Highroad — :45
4 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank — 1.10
5 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Team Columbia – Highroad — 1.29
6 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas — 1.37
7 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana– 1.46
8 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank — 1.54
9 Thomas Danielson (USA) Garmin – Slipstream — 2.24
10 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) Astana — 2.48
Other finishers
15 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia – Highroad — 4.19
22 Christopher Horner (USA) Astana — 10.14
23 Floyd Landis (USA) OUCH Presented By Maxxis — 10.26
27 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream — 13.02
41 Jason Mccartney (USA) Team Saxo Bank — 24.18
83 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Rock Racing — 1.03.56
Read reports on the race action and get the final results at CyclingNews or VeloNews.
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