Road: Levi Takes California!

American Levi Leipheimer rolled his custom-painted Trek Madone 6.9 across the line in Pasadena on Sunday to score his second consecutive Tour of California championship, successfully defending his 49 second lead over second place David Millar. For Leipheimer, this year's victory was especially meaningful given the high calibre of riders attending the Tour, including top stars like Millar, David Zabriskie, Tom Boonen, Christian Vandevelde, Paolo Bettini, Oscar Freire, Mario Cipollini, and Fabian Cancellara: "The level of the opponents made this victory so special for me. To win this race was really unbelievable."

Leipheimer was quick to give the nod to his Astana team-mates, who skilfully controlled the race after he took over the leader's jersey following stage three's dramatic finish: "Without my team-mates Brajkovic, Gusev, Horner, Ivanov, Kemps, Mizourov, and Rubiera, I would never have succeeded. They were up front in the most miserable, horrific weather conditions. It is a job nobody really wants to do. We proved that Astana Cycling Team is definitely the best team in the world."