(AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Levi Leipheimer used his Giro Training camp form to get the top spot for the Dauphine Libere prologue. The American was riding some good form, while others such as Alejandro Valverde and Cadel Evans were using this race as the tune up for the Tour de France. The Dauphine is a good race for Leipheimer especially since he has some very good form to use and no real prospect for riding the Tour at this moment. The Astana team at least has some preparation for the race, so they can be ready to defend a lead if needed. The Dauphine is more interesting for the jockeying and staring down of Tour de France rivals. Cadel Evans and Alejandro Valverde will be using the chance to see how each other is doing in their run-up to the Tour.
Levi Leipheimer sealed one of his career best victories today in the Dauphine Libere. This year’s victory made up for losing the race last year as Euskatel Euskadi’s Landaluze took the win. Leipheimer was ready for a “do over” this year and his form helped him leave nothing to chance. The victory is one for Leipheimer to savor as he did what a GC rider should do, perform well in the time trials and drop everyone in the mountains. Now everyone will be pointing to Leipheimer as another strong Tour De France contender. He does have all of the skills and he whooped Ullrich’s rear in the Tour of Germany a win that T-Mobile desperately wanted. This victory should put Leipheimer as one of the favorites come July.
The Dauphine however is a mysterious race as it comes about a month to three weeks before the Tour de France putting the winners in an odd position. Peform well at the Dauphine and you show that you have fine form, but you have to keep that form going, or try to improve for the next few weeks.
Perform poorly, you still have time before the Tour. Plus, you won’t run the risk peaking too early. A poor performance at the Dauphine does not translate into a poor performance in the Tour de France as Lance Armstrong has shown.
Floyd Landis performed poorly at the Dauphine, but it seemed like he was trying to stay out of the red zone and not overcook his form rather than simply a poor performance.
Ivan Basso was spotted during stage 6 of the Dauphine. Basso was more cyclotourist than competitor on the day as he was scoping out the Tour de France stage like day.
Iban Mayo performed well in what seems to be his favorite race. L’Alpe D’Huez is back on the map for the Tour this year, will he be able to defend his title from 2004? He certainly won’t deal with the other guy that declared he would like to win L’Alpe D’ Huez Gilberto Simoni who will possibly deal with some sort of suspension for his story about money and promises of stage wins.
Time Trails seem to be the domain of American riders as David Zabriske took both the prologue and the stage 3 time trial. DZ was followed by three other American riders who all have Tour GC ambitions. Landis, Hincapie and Leipheimer must like the 100km of TTs that the Tour de France has in store. This will give the USA something to cheer about as Americans go into the post Lance era.
More bad news in the cycling world related to drug use. Inigo Landaluze has tested positive for a higher than normal level of testosterone in his system. Landy recorded a level of 8 nanograms of testosterone in his system which is twice the legal limit.
This positive test result came during the Dauphine Libere which Landaluze won while keeping Santiago Botero at bay. Landaluze will most likely be stripped of the Dauphine title and the vicotry will pass over to Santiago Botero. This positive test is another blow to the Euskatel Euskadi team as Aitor Gonzalez lost his Tour de Suisse title after testing positive for drug use.
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