US cyclist Levi Leipheimer won Stage 1 of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge on Tuesday as he took the yellow jersey with a perfectly timed final attack 
in Crested Butte.
While the peloton was gasping for air in at least a half dozen languages, the RadioShack cyclist dropped the leaders in the last third of a mile as they rode past 9,000 feet elevation.
Hard on his tail was Sergio Henao, 23, the Colombian cyclist whose Gobernación de Antioquia cycling team challenged the big leagues at the Tour of Utah, also won by Leipheimer.
Podium
Finishing just behind were two podium finishers from the Tour de France, Frank Schleck (3rd at the Tour), and Cadel Evans (the Tour champion). If you count Andy Schleck's (2nd at the Tour) attack in the final couple of miles, it's easy to see that the podium winners didn't come to Colorado as window dressing.
Evans' reacted to the Crested Butte stage at Twitter: “First road stage here in Colorado…a bit higher (altitude) and A LOT harder… Not enough oxygen for me but otherwise fun.”
Leipheimer will probably credit his win to Russian teammate Ivan Rovny, who paced Leipheimer, Schleck, Evans and a couple of others as the slope picked up in the final 2 miles.
The 37-year-old cyclist from Santa Rosa later said it was the first time in his long career that he attacked the front of the peloton to win a stage.
More mountains
As for the Brothers Schleck and Evans, they must be wondering what they got themselves into with all this Rocky Mountain racing. Leipheimer, Henao and some other cyclists in the peloton got acclimated to the higher elevations in the Tour of Utah a couple of weeks ago.
It won't get any easier. Wednesday is the “queen stage” of the inaugural bike tour as crosses two 12,000-foot passes on the way from Gunnison to Aspen. [The race starts a 9 a.m. (MT).]
Bicyclists in the Ride the Rockies, Bicycle Tour of Colorado, and similar week-long rides can appreciate the suffering among the racers as the peloton crosses Cottonwood and Independence passes on the 130-mile stage.
Why so long?
The Shack TourTracker, above, offered some amazingly killer scenery of the Rocky Mountains today. While I get to follow this race on my home computer, I can imagine how difficult it must be to work while watching the scenes unfold on your computer at the office.
It also makes me wonder why it has taken so long from a stage race to return to the Rocky Mountains.
The race also is televised on Versus through Saturday. The finale will air on NBC on Sunday.
Top 10 overall
1. Levi Leipheimer (USA) RadioShack
2. Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin Cervelo – :11
3. Tejay Van Garderen (USA) HTC-Highroad – :17
4. Cadel Evans (Australia) BMC – :17
5. Robert Gesink (Netherlands) Rabobank – :30
6. Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC – :34
7. Rory Sutherland (Australia) UnitedHealthCare – :35
8. George Hincapie (USA) BMC – :37
9. Tom Danielson (USA) Garmin Cervelo – :37
10. Jeffry Louder (USA) BMC – :41
Selected others
11. Frank Schleck (Luxembourg) Leopard Trek – :42
44. Andy Schleck (Luxembourg) Leopard Trek – 1:38
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