Update: Aug. 13 — Leipheimer wins bronze at Beijing Olympics
Sept. 3 — Leipheimer leads Vuelta a Espana bike race
US cyclist Levi Leipheimer has been training in Utah and California to prepare for the Olympic bicycle road race and time trial events at the Summer Olympics beginning next weekend in Beijing.
Leipheimer has had plenty of time to stew about the upcoming Olympics as his Astana team was not invited to the Tour de France.
So while the peloton was racing across Europe, the Santa Rosa, California, resident did some training along the coast to escape the smoke from inland wildfires. He's also been training in Utah. He recently told the RecovoxNews blog.
“Well, it’s been nice to get a change in scenery and train with some other people and, obviously, the high altitude is a good thing. But I’m looking forward to going home and riding the roads I know and just trying to do the final couple weeks of training before the Olympics.”
He also competed in the multi-stage Cascade Classic in Oregon, which he won.
Other Americans
Leipheimer will have four teammates on the USA cycling road race team. They are George Hincapie, Jason McCartney, Christian Vande Velde and David Zabriskie.
We all know Vande Velde finished 5th overall in this year's Tour de France and Hincapie raced there as well. McCartney rides for Team CSC, but was not chosen for the squad, and David Zabriskie was recovering from an injury at the Giro d'Italia.
Chances
What are Leipheimer's thoughts on his chances at the Olympics?
“Well, the Olympics are a big deal, obviously. When I went to Athens it was a great experience. I didn’t ride so well there so I’m hoping this time around I’ll do a lot better. I’m focused on it and I think I have a good chance, especially in the time trial.”
The 152-mile road race course is seven laps around a loop that includes a 7.5-mile climb every loop. The Santa Rosa Press Democrat suggests the difficulty may play to Leipheimer's advantage, since he hasn't been beating himself up in the Tour for three weeks.
Athens
The course was difficult in 2004 as well; Leipheimer was not among the 38 cyclists out of 141 who finished the 139-mile course around Athens temperatures that rose above 100 degrees.
Leipheimer is worried about air pollution, but he was told by Americans who scoped out the course last summer that the air quality isn't so bad out on the cycling route.
He'll head back to Europe immediately after the time trial event to train for the Vuelta a Espana, which begins in September.
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