Trek athlete and defending Tour of California Champion Levi Leipheimer used a commanding performance in Wednesday’s hilly stage three race from Modesto to San Jose to secure the overall ToC race lead and don the coveted yellow jersey. At the start of the stage Levi sat in sixth place, seven seconds off the lead; by the end of the day, Levi had amassed a 13 second advantage over second place, and just as importantly, had launched a salvo over the competition’s heads: the form is good; the team is good; he is the man to beat.
Here’s how the race unfolded…
Using tactics familiar to anyone who has followed a Bruyneel-engineered team, Leipheimer’s Astana team spent much of the day at the front of the peloton, controlling the race by setting a brisk pace. As the field approached the hors categorie climb up Mt. Hamilton, Astana climbing-ace Jose Luis “Chechu” Rubiera turned up the heat on the peloton by setting a blistering tempo. The earlier breakaway of three riders was quickly reeled-in as the hard-charging Chechu continued to drive the field. By the time he’d reached the summit, Chechu’s war of attrition had thinned the peloton down to an elite group of less than 20 riders, which included his Astana teammates Leipheimer and Chris Horner.
As the lead group descended down the back side of Mt Hamilton, High Road’s George Hincapie launched a bold (though eventually futile) attack that quickly saw him gain almost 40 seconds on the lead group. Hincapie held his gap all the way to the base of the Sierra Road climb, but once again, Astana’s Chechu Rubiera came to the front of the field and set a wicked pace that reeled-in Hincapie and put the hurt on the remaining elites. The field slowly dwindled, eventually paring the lead group down to just four riders: Robert Gesink (Rabobank), Leipheimer, David Zabriskie (Slipstream-Chipotle), and Horner. Gesink, last year’s ToC overall “Best Young Rider,” took over the pace making, which proved too much for Zabriskie and Horner. By the time they reached the top of Sierra Road, Gesink and Leipheimer had over a minute’s advantage on the chasers.
With nearly 20 miles of racing left until the finish, victory for the two leaders was in no way assured. Clearly they would need to work together for their mutual benefit. So, taking turns at the front, Leipheimer and Gesink charged down the back side of Sierra Road and on to the run-up into San Jose. There, on the relatively flat roads leading into San Jose, the drag race began, as Leipheimer and Gesink continued taking pulls as they time trialed to the finish. Behind them a hard charging chase group of over a dozen riders, including some of the world’s best time trialists—David Miller, Fabian Cancellara, and Zabriskie—slowly started to gain back time. But Leipheimer’s and Gesink’s incredible efforts proved too much for the chasers, as the pair crossed the line with a 19 second advantage. Happy to have gained precious time on his rivals, and with the overall classification in mind, Leipheimer ceded individual stage victory to Gesink, who sprinted uncontested for the day’s glory.
“It was a hard stage...hard stage," noted Leipheimer after the race. "They told us we had over a minute [at the summit of Sierra Road] but I had my doubts because I had been in this position before. Robert was amazing. I predicted last night that he would be my ally. I even spoke to him last night and it went to perfection. We put a lot into it and 12 seconds... it was worth it, I'll take that.”
Now the race leader, Leipheimer’s next test will likely come in stage five’s 15-mile individual time trial. Should he win there, Leipheimer will all but have sealed victory and repeated as Tour of California Champion. Stay tuned as Leipheimer, Astana, and Trek go for the season’s first victory.
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