Levi Leipheimer

Levi Leipheimer (born October 24, 1973 in Butte, Montana) is an American professional road bicycle racer who rides with UCI ProTeam Team Astana. He previously rode for the American team Discovery Channel, the ancestral German cycling team Gerolsteiner, and the Dutch team Rabobank.

His major results to date are 1st overall in the 2008 Tour of California (winning the Stage 5 time trial), 2nd overall in the 2008 Vuelta a España (winning two stages), 1st overall in the 2007 Tour of California (winning the Prologue and Stage 5 time trials), 1st overall in the 2006 Dauphiné Libéré, 1st overall in the 2005 Deutschland Tour, 3rd overall in the 2001 Vuelta a España, and four top-ten finishes in the Tour de France general classification, including 3rd overall in the 2007 race. He currently resides in Santa Rosa, California, with his wife Odessa Gunn. Leipheimer won the 2007 USA National Road Race Championships, finishing 1:11 seconds ahead of Discovery team mate and defending U.S. champion George Hincapie.

Leipheimer won the Bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in the Men's Road Time Trial.

Career

Early years

A competitive skier from age 12-19, Leipheimer originally began cycling in 1987 to train for downhill ski racing. He turned pro in 1997, and rode for Saturn in 1998 and 1999. He won the U.S. National Time Trial Championships in 1999, and was invited to join the U.S. Postal Service cycling team.

2001-2003

Leipheimer's breakthrough performance came in the 2001 Vuelta a España. He was riding exceptionally strong and was riding in support of his team leader Roberto Heras. Going into the last Individual Time Trial Leipheimer was in 4th overall and trailed his team leader by a few seconds. During that time trial Leipheimer showed his form was solid and improved his position over his team leader to finish 3rd overall.

Following his 2001 Vuelta a España podium finish, the Dutch team Rabobank recruited Leipheimer as a team leader. In 2002, his first year with the new team, Leipheimer finished eighth overall in his first ever Tour de France.

2004

After Lance Armstrong declined his spot, Leipheimer was selected to represent the United States in the 2004 Athens Olympics cycling road race. He did not finish. He also again finished in the top ten of the Tour de France, ninth this time.

2005

On August 23, 2005 Leipheimer won the Deutschland Tour title by 31 seconds ahead of T-Mobile's Jan Ullrich and Gerolsteiner teammate Georg Totschnig. He solidified his lead on the field by defeating Jan Ullrich in stage four on the climb of the Rettenbachferner, the highest climb in European racing that year at 8,760 feet (2,670 m) above sea level.

2006

In 2006, Leipheimer started the season strong and was a favorite to win the Tour of California in February. Indeed, he took the golden leader's jersey on the first day by winning the time trial prologue up to San Francisco's Coit Tower, and retained it until Stage 2 when George Hincapie claimed the overall lead by earning a ten second bonus in the sprint finish in San José. Arriving in his hometown, Santa Rosa, in the lead at the end of Stage 1 was very special to him, his family, and his fans, tens of thousands of whom greeted and cheered him upon his arrival. Leipheimer remained competitive throughout the race (which was eventually won by Floyd Landis), and he won the competition for best climber.

After a several month hiatus from racing that Leipheimer spent mostly training at home in California, he emerged in June at the Dauphiné Libéré in excellent condition. Third place in the individual time trial coupled with a dominant performance on the stage that ended at Mont Ventoux, Leipheimer took the overall lead, donned the yellow jersey, and never relinquished it to become the first American since Lance Armstrong in 2003 to the overall (general classification) title at the 2006 Dauphiné Libéré.

Leipheimer faced high expectations in the 2006 Tour de France, especially when the main top contenders (including Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich) were suspended from the Tour days before it started as a result of the Operación Puerto doping case. Because of this and Lance Armstrong's retirement, none of the top five General Classification riders from the 2005 Tour de France competed in 2006. Having placed sixth in 2005, Leipheimer was considered a top contender. However, a terrible performance in the stage 7 time trial that has been described as the worst time trial of Leipheimer's professional career put him five minutes behind the leader, squarely in the middle of the pack, and making a top 10 finish a challenge for him. Further losses in the first mountain stage hurt his chances further, and made even a top 20 finish questionable. But in the epic Stage 11, with five difficult climbs, a resurgent Leipheimer produced a strong second place finish, finishing with the same time as stage winner Denis Menchov and new race leader Floyd Landis. This result vaulted Leipheimer from 58th to 13th place, albeit still 5:39 behind Landis.

2007

Leipheimer re-signed with his old team, Team Discovery Channel (The team name changed when US Postal ended their sponsorship of the team. A sponsorship agreement was signed with the Discovery Channel in 2005). In his first season riding with Team Discovery Channel since re-signing, Leipheimer was the team leader in the 2007 Tour of California. He repeated his Prologue win from the previous year on the same course, won the Stage 5 individual time trial, and held the race lead from start to finish, despite strong challenges from other ProTour teams. In the Paris-Nice stage race he supported teammate Alberto Contador, who won the general classification. He placed third in the 2007 Tour de France, finishing 0'31" from winner, his young team mate Alberto Contador. Leipheimer won stage 19 of the 2007 Tour de France, the last individual time trial.

2008

Leipheimer joined Team Astana, managed by Johan Bruyneel, former team manager of U.S. Postal/Discovery Channel team. On February 13th, 2008, Team Astana was banned from the 2008 Tour de France due to ties to the doping scandals of the 2007 Tour. A petition to the Amaury Sport Organization has been created under the name Let Levi Ride at www.letleviride.com, requesting Levi be allowed to race due to his distance from the cited doping incidents. Despite ASO's decision of the non-inclusion of Astana in their races, Leipheimer performed well at the 2008 Tour of California, winning the general classification.

Leipheimer won the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in the men's road time trial. He also won both time trial stages of the 2008 Vuelta a España, donning the golden jersey of race leader after the first.