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Levi Leipheimer defeats teammate Contador to win the Castilla y Leon time trial
Leipheimer:"Either I win or Alberto wins, no problem.”
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Levi Leipheimer roared to victory in the name of Lance Armstrong a day after the seven-time Tour de France champion crashed out of the Vuelta a Castilla y León in northern Spain.
Leipheimer topped Astana teammate Alberto Contador in a windy, flat 28.2km individual time trial Tuesday by 16 seconds to win in his European season debut.
Leipheimer, who carries the leader’s jersey into Wednesday’s climbing stage, said he won in honor of his fallen teammate.
Stage 2:
1. Levi Leipheimer (USA/Astana), 28.2 km in 33:17 (average: 50.836 kph)
2. Alberto Contador (ESP) at 16s.
3. David Zabriskie (USA) at 22s.
4. Stef Clement (NED) at 49s.
5. Denis Menchov (RUS) at 55s.
General Classification:
1. Levi Leipheimer (USA) 5:05:10.
2. Alberto Contador (ESP) at 16s.
3. David Zabriskie (USA) at 22s.
4. Stef Clement (NED) at 49s.
5. Denis Menchov (RUS) at 55s.
Complete Results
“Yesterday I was also disappointed for Lance. I felt a little bit depressed because we were having a great time together,” said Leipheimer, who won in 33 minutes, 17 seconds (50.836kph). “I was also a little bit disappointed yesterday, so it’s nice to win today and I hope that he can share a little bit of the victory and motivation to come back.”
David Zabriskie finished third at 22 seconds off the pace as three Garmin-Slipstream riders slotted into the top 10. Tom Danielson was ninth at 1:36 slower and Christian Vande Velde was 10th at 1:39.
Armstrong’s presence drew dozens of journalists to the five-day race across northern Spain, many of whom promptly left following Armstrong’s early exit.
For those who stuck around saw a fine time trial duel between some of the big guns who are expected to be fighting for the spoils in both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France later this summer.
Defending Tour de France champion Carlos Sastre (Cervélo) stopped the clock at 2:32 slower for 36th while Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) rode to 22nd at 2:07 back.
Strong winds
The 28.2km out-and-back course across the barren flats outside of Palencia didn’t offer much of a technical challenge and presented a good litmus test for strong rolleurs.A brisk tailwind pushed the riders toward a small climb at the Alto de Autilla at 17.4km and then it was a strong headwind back to the finish line.
Leipheimer started relatively early and quickly set the fastest mark of 33:17.
“It was very hard — muy dificil — a lot of wind and there was nowhere to recover,” Leipheimer said. “You had to push the whole time, it became more and more difficult in the stage. It was a good time trial for me, always straight and a lot of speed, so for me, that’s good.”
Winds picked up later in the afternoon and riders were blasting hard out of the gate to top Leipheimer’s intermediate times only to turn back and falter against an even stronger headwind.
Denis Menchov (Rabobank) set a faster intermediate time, but lost more than 30 seconds against headwinds in the closing kilometers to stop the clock 55 seconds slower than Leipheimer for fifth.
Contador also flew out of the gates, setting the fastest time at 8km, 41 seconds faster than Leipheimer. The Spaniard was still 39 seconds faster than Leipheimer at 19km, but when he turned back into the wind, it was like a wall, forfeiting 55 seconds in the final 9.2km.
“Like Johan said, maybe the wind picked up more. That’s what I thought yesterday, that the wind gets stronger,” Leipheimer said. “I also finish stronger. I am not so good in the beginning. I always go like this.”
Contador caught his one-minute man, Markel Irizar (Euskaltel-Euskadi), with about 10km to go, but their pair rode pedal stroke for pedal stroke over the closing kilometers as they struggled against the wind.
“It went very good but in the end, there was a lot of headwind,” Contador said. “When I got Irizar, I lost a little concentration. I am overall very content with the result.”
Two days in the mountains
The 24th Vuelta a Castilla y León continues Wednesday with the first of two mountain stages.
The 156.8km third stage starts in Sahagún and winds slowly across the “paramo,” or flats, along the northern edge of the windy meseta before slowly climbing into the Cantabrian mountains at Bo ar with 40km to go.
The stage finishes atop the Cat. 2 climb to a ski area at San Isidro. At 1,500m, the altitude will be a factor and the final few kilometers are relatively steep.
Leipheimer said he hopes to have the legs to fend off the attacks from the Spanish climbers.
“I think it’s really important that I won today. I’d like to win the race but it will be very difficult because the rest will be very aggressive,” he said. “I think the problem will be for riders from behind attacking. If I can follow the best or Alberto can follow the best, it’s good we have we have the first two, it gives us a better chance to win. Either I win or Alberto wins, no problem.”
The Spanish media were quick to pick up on whether or not two-time defending champion Contador will ride to support Leipheimer, returning the favor for Leipheimer’s help in last year’s Giro and Vuelta.
“It will be difficult to try to think about winning,” Contador said. “Now I will try to help my teammate, who has taken control of the leader’s jersey. The rac e will be wide open. We can expect attacks.”
Levi Giro-bound
Leipheimer also indicated he’s likely heading to the Giro d’Italia in May.
Last year, he rode his first Giro to help Alberto Contador to victory and this year he was expecting to be there for Armstrong.
“That was the plan, I was going to go with Lance to the Giro,” Leipheimer said. “Last year I did the Giro and I felt like it made me stronger for the rest of year and I had the same idea this year as well.”
Leipheimer also defended Armstrong, saying the crash Monday was nothing more than bad luck.
“He was riding very smart. The race was yesterday nervous. The roads were small and on bad roads. It was really just bad luck,” he said. “He was all day long in the front and for one moment a little bit behind, then there was a crash. Just bad luck — that’s all. 100 percent unlucky.”
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