Levi Leipheimer Climbs His Way To Stage Win and Claims Yellow Jersey
A dramatic mountain top finish in the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah's second stage, the XanGo Thanksgiving Point to Mt. Nebo road race, ended with Levi Leipheimer standing atop the podium in the AT&T Leaders Jersey.
- (1888PressRelease) August 21, 2010 - SALT LAKE CITY - The day started on the doorstep of the stage sponsor XanGo's world headquarters with a neutral roll out. As soon as the group hit the official start line riders were immediately trying to breakaway. At one point, the peloton was strung out in a long fast paceline. Eventually a group of about 16 riders managed to breakaway.
As the race wound its way through a small canyon, around mile 40, U.S. national road champion George Hincapie of BMC Racing Team and 15-time Tour de France finisher crashed and abandoned the race. He sustained abrasions to the right side of his head and shoulder and received 18 stitches to close a cut on his right knee.
Near the base of the foreboding 20-mile climb up cloud-covered Mount Nebo, the breakaway group was caught as they started their way uphill. Riders soon were dropped as the strong climbers made their way to the front.
Darren Lill of Fly V Australia made a move early on, wreaking havoc on the rest of the field. He pushed his lead to as much as 40 seconds before being caught by a group of four riders, which included former Tour of Utah Champion Francisco Mancebo of Canyon Bicycles, Levi Leipheimer of Mellow Johnny's, Ian Boswell of BISSELL Pro Cycling Team and Philip Zajicek of Fly V Australia.
As this lead group neared the summit, Mancebo accelerated, which Leipheimer matched and eventually attacked Mancebo to breakaway for a solo win by 52 seconds. Leipheimer finished the 70-mile course with a time of 3 hours, 11 minutes and 43 seconds. Boswell finished third, and was assigned the same time as Mancebo.
"I just tried to not go too far over my limit and keep it steady. I knew those behind were hurting and they weren't working together well," said Leipheimer. "I came here to win a stage and I saw the opportunity, so I took it"
Steve Miller, Tour of Utah president stated, "I think it is pretty conceivable that this might go down as the most exciting stage in America this year. Could we have scripted a better ending? Nature sure added to the drama and suspense of an already close race by rolling in those dark clouds over Nebo. It looked like it was going to open up a deluge any minute."
With the stage win, Leipheimer took the AT&T Yellow Leader's jersey from Trek-LIVESTRONG's Alex Dowsett. Dowsett also lost the Utah Toyota Dealers King of the Mountains Jersey to Mancebo, and the Powerade/vitaminwater Best Young Riders Jersey to Boswell.
Yesterday's stage winner, Fly V Australia's David Tanner Tanner still has the XO Communications Sprinter Jersey, and his teammate Darren Lill is now wearing the Siegfried & Jensen Best Utah Rider's Jersey, instead of Jeff Louder of BMC Racing Team.
The top five general classification riders were split between less than two minutes, Leipheimer ending with a total time of 6:40:36, Mancebo with 6:41:32, Boswell and Lill with 6:41:52 and Philip Zajicek of Fly V Australia with 6:42:10.
In the overall team competition, the top five in order are Fly V Australia, Team Holowesko Partners, On The Rivet presented by Ion Sports Nutrition, BMC Racing Team, and BISSELL Pro Cycling Team.
"I think Utah has fantastic roads, really tough climbs and it is the perfect place for a bike race." continued Leipheimer. "I would really like to see the race grow in the next couple years. I think it would complement the new Tour of Colorado race very well and then together they can become the two August high-altitude big stage races that attract the worlds top riders. I think the Tour of Utah is doing well and growing, and that's what's important."
Tomorrow's stage, the teamgive presented by Blackbottoms and 1320 KFAN time trial, will take place at the Miller Motorsports Park, 40 miles west of Salt Lake City. The 9.2-mile individual time will test the rider's limits as they race against the clock. Click here for a list of riders starting order and times.
For a complete list of results, go to www.tourofutah.com
Photo: Left to right - Bissel Pro Cycling Team's Ian Boswell, Mellow Johnny's Levi Leipheimer, Fly V Australia's Darren Lill and David Tanner Tanner, and Canyon Bicycles' Francisco Mancebo
Photo Credit: Brian Hodes, Velo Images
About the 2010 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah
Deemed "America's Toughest Stage Race," the 2010 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah presented by Zions Bank, is a six-day, five-stage, 325-mile professional bicycle road race with nearly 30,000 feet of climbing. The race takes place August 17-22, 2010 along the Rocky Mountain's Wasatch Range through some of Utah's most beautiful and challenging terrain. The Tour will attract 19 professional cycling teams totaling 144 cyclists competing for a cash/prize purse of $45,000. The 2010 Tour of Utah will be accompanied by a colorful, rolling festival celebration that will take place at the finish line. More than 30,000 spectators are expected to line the racecourse and attend the festivals in Ogden, Park City, Provo, Salt Lake City and Tooele, and 60,000-plus race fans are expected to follow online.
Local Media Contact:
Linda Luchetti, Media Director, 801.325.2570 (wk) / 801.455.9163.7515 (cell), lluchetti ( @ ) lhm dot com
National & International Media Contact:
Chip Smith, SOAR Communications, 801.656-0472 x1 (wk) / 801.597.7515 (cell), csmith ( @ ) soarcomm dot com
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