Levi Leipheimer needed a big day in Solvang to put his stamp on the 2007 Amgen Tour of California.

Mission accomplished.

The Team Discovery Channel rider did what was needed to keep his overall lead in Friday's time-trial Stage 5 of the cycling event, traversing the 14.5-mile course around the Santa Ynez Valley in 29 minutes, 40.441 seconds to score the stage win and extend his lead over Germany's Jens Voigt.

“One of my major motivations tonight was that I didn't want to go to the dinner table tonight with my teammates and tell them that I couldn't defend the lead, after all the work they did,” said the Santa Rosa native. “I was able to push a lot harder than I normally would. I have to say that winning this time trial is a big achievement for me.”

The top duo, the last two riders out on the course in the one-at-a-time event, posted the fastest times of the day: Voigt posted a 29:58.510 right in front of Leipheimer.

Leipheimer joked that Discovery Channel team boss Johan Bruyneel may have helped his cause by intentionally misleading him about his margin to Voigt in the standings.

“The time checks were sporadic,” Leipheimer said. “When I got to Los Olivos, I could hear the announcer say that I had the best time. Then Johan would say, ‘You've got the best time, but I don't know how much.'

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“With five (kilometers) to go, he said I was five seconds ahead,” Leipheimer added. “I kinda figured that he might be Š lying to me a little bit, to get me to go faster. With two or three kilometers to go, he said that I was two seconds ahead. It definitely pushed me.”

Leipheimer's win led a 1-3 finish for Team Discovery Channel, as American teammate Jason McCartney posted a 30:05.14 around 18 riders before Voigt and Leipheimer. The big stage for the Iowa native allowed him to vault from 20th in the overall classification to third, 54 seconds behind his teammate.

“I was kind of lucky. Yesterday, I was able to sit on the wheels of the guy in front of me, so I came in rested.,” McCartney said. “I knew I'd have a good day, but I didn't think I'd end up third.”

Swiss rider Fabien Cancellara, the defending World Time Trial Champion, was fourth for Team CSC with a 30.17.910. Discovery Channel's George Hincapie was fifth (30:20.540).

Coming out of the fifth of seven stages, Leipheimer holds a time of 18 hours, 21 minutes, 52 seconds, a mere 21 seconds ahead of Team CSC's Voigt (18:22:13). The overall classification also shows the top contenders for the team championship in Discovery Channel and CSC: With Leipheimer, Voigt and McCartney, the top six spots are held by riders from either team, followed by Australian Michael Rogers of T-Mobile in seventh, 94 seconds off the lead.

“It's not a negative rivalry, but more of a spirited competition,” Leipheimer said of the Discovery-CSC battles. “I've said to Jens that we should take our show on the road. We've had some great battles over the years. After he won (in Germany), I joked that since we were back in California, that it was my turn.”

One of the big challenges of the day was major winds coming down from the northern hills around the valley, forcing riders into a headwind for the first half of the race.

“It was hard mentally, because you weren't going very fast,” Leipheimer said of the conditions. “During that stretch was where a lot of the time difference was made up, on the hill. I tried to just stay straight as possible and keep the pressure on.”

Friday's course started out in front of the Santa Ynez Mission, then worked north up Alamo Pintado Road before cutting across at Baseline Ave. A turn north on Refugio Rd. was followed by a westward turn up Roblar Avenue, heading into Los Olivos. Once through the north end of the circuit, the riders returned to Solvang along Ballard Canyon Road, hitting 40 mph in spots.

The Tour also hit a milestone on Friday in terms of fan attendance. Tour organizers estimate that this year's Tour surpassed the one million fan mark, a stage earlier than last year.

Among the notables in the stage, defending Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso was ninth around the stage (30:40.390); Stage 2 winner Juan José Haedo - another CSC rider - was 36th (31:57.780), and Stage 4 winner Paolo Bettini of Italy was 77th (33:19.950).

San Luis Obispo resident Lucas Euser, who made noise by scoring some King of the Mountain points in Thursday's Stage 4 while riding for Team Slipstream, finished 127th and last in the time trial with a 35:59.

February 24, 2007