Leipheimer wins time trial, overall lead now 36 seconds

SOLVANG — Levi Leipheimer isn’t prone to emotion. He’s focused even among a sport replete with intense athletes.

But the Tour of California leader unleashed a brief burst of overt joy Friday. He thrust three fingers of his right hand into the air approaching the finish of the sixth stage individual time trial.

The gesture designated his third straight Solvang time trial win and another day’s work completed as he rides toward his third overall race title.

The last of 106 riders on the undulating route in the Danish-themed city, Leipheimer (Astana) pedaled to more than an eight-second win over David Zabriskie and extended his race lead to 36 seconds with two stages of the fourth annual race remaining.

Leipheimer completed the undulating route in 30 minutes and 40.52 seconds, six seconds faster than last year, and at an average speed of 29.29 mph.

Zabriskie (Garmin-Slipstream) of Salt Lake City was second in 30.48.95, with Gustav Larsson (Saxo-Bank) of Sweden third in 30:57.47.

“This year, the time trial means the most because it was a such close race,” said Leipheimer, the Santa Rosa rider who assumed the race lead Monday with a second-place finish in stage 2. “I respect Dave (Zabriskie). He’s one of the best time trialists in the world. For me to beat these guys is a big honor. It means the most since it was tightest race, a great race.”

Lance Armstrong, Leipheimer’s teammate who began the day in fourth place, showed for the first time in the event his comeback is a work in progress. Armstrong finished 14th in the stage, 1:16 behind Leipheimer, and he dropped from fourth to sixth position. He trails Leipheimer by 1:46.

“I raced as hard as I could,” said Armstrong. “I wanted to be in the top 15, so I’m not unhappy. There was no pressure because everything was about Levi. I was more interested in the split times between Levi and Zabriskie. Maybe I missed a bit on the warm-up and preparation.”

Leipheimer began the day with a 24-second cushion over Michael Rogers (Columbia-Highroad) of Australia, the three-time world time trial titlist. Race officials originally reported via a closed circuit television broadcast that Rogers had set a surprisingly fast intermediate time, the quickest of the day by more than two minutes.

Rogers’ time was corrected (it was appreciably slower) and the day’s focus returned to Leipheimer and Zabriskie.

Zabriskie, a three-time national time trial titlist, was the fourth-to-last starter (the top-10 in the overall standings began with three-minute intervals) and he posted the fastest intermediate time of the day.

Rogers finished fourth (31:02.87) and he’s now third overall, trailing by 46 seconds.

Leipheimer, the last rider who began the stage six minutes later, bettered Zabriskie’s intermediate time by only two seconds. But on the concluding segments of the route, Leipheimer increased his tempo. With his unique tucked position — his chin sometimes touches his hands while they’re positioned on his aerobars — Leipheimer quickly built his cushion.

The victory was Leipheimer’s fifth career stage in four editions of the Tour of California and he’s now been the race leader for 21 days.

“There are still two tough stages and anything can happen after today,” Leipheimer said. “People have less and less to lose so they are more willing to throw caution to the wind and come at us with everything they have. The competition is super high. You won’t find a better peloton right now. We have to take it kilometer-by-kilometer and hope for the best.”

In the previous two years, the event’s final weekend unfolded with a less-than-strenuous road stage and a circuit race. But this year’s event — one day longer — will conclude with two road races, both including climbs.

The seventh stage today, an 88.9-mile journey from Santa Clarita to Pasadena, won’t rattle title contenders. But in the concluding stage Sunday, the field will ride 96.8 miles from Rancho Bernardo to Escondido.

The stage will feature four climbs, including the ascent of Mt. Palomar. The nearly five-mile climb will start about 43 miles into the stage and crests at 5,123 feet, the highest point in race history.

FURTHER FIELD REDUCTIONS

The event lost two more riders and the field is now 106 from a starting field of 136 last Saturday in Sacramento. Bernard Sulzberger (Fly V Australia) of Australia didn’t make the start for undisclosed reasons, reducing the new squad’s roster to two.

Italian Ivan Basso (Liquigas), the 2006 Tour of Italy winner, also left the race under unique circumstances. He hurt his left knee while preparing for the time trial on stationary rollers.

TEAM-BY-TEAM

Astana continues to lead the team standings, determined by the cumulative times of the top three riders’ times from each squad.

Astana has a 4:01 margin over Garmin-Slipstream and a 4:32 advantage over Saxo-Bank. With only two riders left, the Fly V squad was eliminated from the team classification.