SOLVANG, CALIF. — Levi Leipheimer won the individual time trial today and added to his overall lead in the Tour of California, with teammate Lance Armstrong finishing 14th.
Leipheimer crossed the finish line of the 15-mile course in 30 minutes, 40 seconds, and waved three fingers on his right hand to signal his third consecutive time-trial victory in this quaint Danish tourist town. The American who competes for Astana is going for his third victory in the race’s four-year history and increased his overall lead by 12 seconds.
Armstrong, riding his time-trial bike that had been stolen along with three belonging to his Astana teammates after last weekend’s time trial in Sacramento, dropped from fourth to sixth in the overall standings. The bike, worth about $10,000, was turned in to police Wednesday by an unidentified resident.
The seven-time Tour de France champion was unable to gain precious time racing against the clock on the fast, mostly flat course, leaving him unlikely to dethrone Leipheimer over the final two days.
“Done with the tt. That hurt!” Armstrong wrote on his Twitter feed nearly two hours after finishing. “Not a bad first test. Wanted to be top 15 so was able to do that. Story of the day tho was Levi. Amazing.”
American David Zabriskie of Garmin-Slipstream was second by 8 seconds in the time trial and second overall, trailing Leipheimer by 36 seconds.
Zabriskie all but conceded the tour to Leipheimer.
“It would take a lot of screwing up on their part (to lose),” he said. “With the experience that they have and the depth of their team, they know what they’re doing.”
Australian Michael Rogers of Columbia-High Road finished fourth and was third overall, 46 seconds behind Leipheimer.
Gustav Larsson of Sweden, who competes for Saxo Bank, was third in the time trial. Germany’s Jens Voigt was fifth, and American George Hincapie was sixth.
Unlike the tour’s rain-plagued early stages in Northern California, conditions were nearly perfect for the sixth stage, with sunny skies on a nearly windless day in the rolling hills of the Santa Ynez valley.
Armstrong had picked Leipheimer to win the time trial for the third straight year and referred to him as “Levistrong,” a play on Armstrong’s cancer charity Livestrong.
The Tour of California is Armstrong’s first competitive appearance on U.S. soil since returning to elite competitive cycling.
The race continues Saturday with Stage 7, an 88.9-mile ride from Santa Clarita to Pasadena’s historic Rose Bowl stadium.
