Levi Leipheimer
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Levi Leipheimer | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | October 24, 1973 | |||||||||||||||
| Country | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) | |||||||||||||||
| Weight | 62 kg (136.7 lb; 9.8 st) | |||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||
| Current team | Team RadioShack | |||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Road | |||||||||||||||
| Role | Rider | |||||||||||||||
| Rider type | All-rounder | |||||||||||||||
| Amateur team(s) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1995 1996 |
F.S. Maestro - Frigas Einstein |
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| Professional team(s) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1997 1998–1999 2000–2001 2002–2004 2005–2006 2007 2008–2009 2010– |
Comptel - Colorado Cyclist Saturn US Postal Rabobank Gerolsteiner Discovery Channel Astana Team RadioShack |
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| Major wins | ||||||||||||||||
| Tour de France, 2 stages Vuelta a España, 2 stages |
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| Infobox last updated on: | ||||||||||||||||
| December 29, 2007 | ||||||||||||||||
Levi Leipheimer (born Butte, Montana October 24, 1973) is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team Team RadioShack. His major results are winning the 2007-2009 editions of the Amgen Tour of California, the 2006 Dauphiné Libéré and the 2005 Deutschland Tour, coming in second in the 2008 Vuelta a España, third in the 2001 Vuelta a España, and having four top-ten finishes in the Tour de France, including third overall in 2007. He lives in Santa Rosa, California with his wife Odessa Gunn, though during the cycling season he primarily lives in Girona, Spain. Leipheimer won the 2007 USA road championship, 1m 11s ahead of Discovery teammate and defending champion George Hincapie.
Leipheimer won the bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games road time trial.
In 2009, he founded and led the King Ridge Gran Fondo, a recreational benefit bicycle ride based in Santa Rosa, California. Thousands of cyclists showed up for this inaugural event. As of May 2010, 5,500 cyclists had already registered for the October 2010 ride, with less than 500 spots still available.
He and his wife are well-known animal lovers, and as of 2009, had six cats and two dogs. They are working to establish an animal refuge they will call Freedom Hill and state that they raise money for various animal welfare causes.
Contents |
Career
Leipheimer began cycling in 1987 as cross-training for downhill ski racing. He was a competitive skier from ages 12-19, but switched his focus to full-time cycling.
Amateur cycling
In 1995 Leipheimer won the Tour of Namur as an intern for the British F.S. Maestro - Frigas team.
On August 18, 1996, Leipheimer, riding for Team Einstein, won the U.S. National Criterium Championships when he lapped the field on the technically demanding Grandview Heights, Ohio, circuit. It was later reported by VeloNews that Leipheimer tested positive for a banned substance at the championship, and a disciplinary panel recommended that he return his title, prize money and jersey. The Leipheimer family, in a letter to the Montana Standard, confirmed the violation and sanction, claiming that Leipheimer had innocently used the allergy medicine Claritin-D, which contains a form of the banned substance ephedrine, to relieve hay fever and that USA Cycling subsequently relaxed its standards regarding the use of such allergy medicines in competition.
Colorado Cyclist and Saturn (1997-1999)
Leipheimer turned pro in 1997 with the Colorado Cyclist team.
Leipheimer raced as a member of Team Saturn in 1998 and 1999.
In 1999 Leipheimer won the U.S. National Time Trial Championship.
U.S. Postal (2000-2002)
Leipheimer joined the US Postal team in 2000.
Leipheimer’s breakthrough came in the 2001 Vuelta a España, his first Grand Tour. He was riding well in support of team leader Roberto Heras. Going into the final stage, an individual time trial in Madrid, Leipheimer was fifth, trailing his leader, who was third, by about a minute. During that time trial, Leipheimer vaulted over two riders, including Heras, to finish third overall, the first American ever to reach the podium in the Vuelta.
Rabobank (2003-2004)
The Dutch team Rabobank then recruited him as leader. In 2002, his first year with the new team, he finished eighth in his first Tour de France. In 2003 he crashed in the first week and abandoned the race.
Leipheimer represented the United States in the 2004 Athens Olympics road race, but did not finish. He finished ninth in the Tour de France.
Gerolsteiner (2005-2006)
Riding for the German team Gerolsteiner, on August 23, 2005 Leipheimer won the Deutschland Tour by 31 seconds, ahead of T-Mobile Team’s Jan Ullrich and Gerolsteiner teammate Georg Totschnig. He had solidified his lead by defeating Ullrich in stage four on the Rettenbachferner, the highest climb in European racing that year at 8,760 feet (2,670m).
In February 2006, Leipheimer was a favorite to win the inaugural Tour of California. He took the leader’s golden jersey on the first day by winning the prologue to San Francisco’s Coit Tower, but George Hincapie took it after stage two thanks to a 10-second bonus in the sprint in San José. Leipheimer won the competition for best climber, taking sixth place overall, but Floyd Landis won the overall competition.
Leipheimer returned in June at the Dauphiné Libéré, took third place in the individual time trial and then took the overall lead with a dominant performance on the stage to Mont Ventoux. He was the first American to win since Armstrong in 2003.
Having placed sixth in 2005, Leipheimer was considered a contender in the 2006 Tour de France when the favorites (including Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich) were suspended after the Operación Puerto doping case. Because of this and Armstrong’s retirement, none of the top five riders from 2005 competed in 2006. However, a stage 7 time trial described as the worst of Leipheimer’s career, put him five minutes behind the leader, in the middle of the pack, making a top 10 finish a challenge. Further losses in the first mountain stage hurt further, and made a top 20 finish questionable. But in stage 11, with five difficult climbs, Leipheimer produced a strong second place with the same time as stage winner, Denis Menchov, and the new race leader, Floyd Landis. This took Leipheimer from 58th to 13th, 5:39 behind Landis. His final position was 12th, 18 and half minutes behind winner Óscar Pereiro.
Team Discovery (2007)
Leipheimer re-signed with Tailwind Sports Corp. and Capital Sports & Entertainment, managing companies for the U.S. Postal and, later, the Discovery Channel cycling teams. Leipheimer was team leader in the 2007 Tour of California. He repeated his prologue win on the same course, won the stage 5 time trial, and led from start to finish. In the Paris-Nice race, he supported teammate Alberto Contador, who won. He placed third in the 2007 Tour de France, 31 seconds behind the winner, his teammate Alberto Contador. Leipheimer won stage 19, the last individual time trial. Discovery Channel disbanded at the end of the season.
The Astana years (2008-2009)
Leipheimer joined Astana, managed by Johan Bruyneel, former manager of U.S. Postal and Discovery Channel. Astana was banned from the 2008 Tour de France on 13 February 2008 because of doping scandals in the 2007 Tour, although all involved in those scandals had been replaced. Leipheimer created a website to petition for admittance to the 2008 Tour.
Leipheimer won the 2008 Tour of California. At the last minute, Astana was admitted to the Giro di Italia, and Leipheimer finished 18th, helping teammate Contador to victory. He won the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in the road time trial. Leipheimer won both time trials of the 2008 Vuelta a España, leading the race after the first stage, and placing second overall behind Contador.
Leipheimer began 2009 by winning the Tour of California for the third consecutive year. He broke away during the final climb of stage 2 and led after the stage. Leipheimer won stage 6, the Solvang individual time trial. Astana teammate Lance Armstrong, in his second race after retirement, rode for Leipheimer. Leipheimer won the 2009 SRAM Tour of the Gila. He rode with Astana teammates Chris Horner and Armstrong, who finished second. UCI regulations meant the three rode as team Mellow Johnny’s, the name of Armstrong’s bike shop, instead of Astana. Horner finished eighth.
In May, Leipheimer rode for Astana in the Giro d’Italia and finished sixth overall, the team’s best placement. Later, the second place finisher Danilo Di Luca tested positive for a banned substance and was stripped of his title, moving Leipheimer up to a fifth place finish in the records.
Riding with Astana in the 2009 Tour de France, Leipheimer broke a wrist in a crash near the end of stage 12, when he was fourth overall, abandoning the race.
Team RadioShack (2010)
Leipheimer moved to Team RadioShack for 2010, staying with Armstrong and others from Astana’s 2009 team. He won his second straight SRAM Tour of the Gila in April. At the Amgen Tour of California, facing stiff competition from Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Transitions) and eventual winner Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia), Leipheimer had to settle for third place overall, breaking his three-year streak of victories. Strong performances by Rogers and Zabriskie in the penultimate Los Angeles time trial put Leipheimer 25 seconds behind going into the final stage, a challenging 84 mile circuit race in the mountainous terrain of Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, and Agoura Hills. Leipheimer was a marked man, and that coupled with a mechanical issue on the last lap requiring a new bike left him unable to make up the 25 seconds, despite a strong RadioShack team (sans Armstrong, who had crashed out a few days before) and several late attacks by Leipheimer.
Personal life
Leipheimer met Canadian professional cyclist Odessa Gunn at a World Cup event in Philadelphia in 1997. Leipheimer sent her a plane ticket to visit him in California, and, as Gunn put it, “I never left.” They married in 2000 and live in Santa Rosa, California.
Major results
- 1998
- 1st Overall Tour de Beauce
- 1st Stage 3
- 1999
- 1st
National Time Trial Champion
- 1st Overall Tour de Beauce
- 1st Stage 3
- 2nd Pan American Games Men’s Road Race
- 2000
- 1st Stage 2 Circuit Franco-Belge
- 2001
- 1st Stage 6 Redlands Classic
- 1st Mountains Classification
- 3rd Overall Vuelta a España
- 3rd Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León
- 2002
- 1st Overall Route du Sud
- 1st Stage 3 ITT
- 8th Overall Tour de France
- 2004
- 1st Stage 4 Setmana Catalana
- 9th Overall Tour de France
- 2005
- 1st Overall
Deutschland Tour
- 1st
King of the Mountains classification - 1st Stage 4
- 1st
- 2nd Overall Tour de Georgia
- 3rd Overall Dauphiné Libéré
- 6th Overall Tour de France
- 2006
- 1st Overall
Dauphiné Libéré - 2nd Overall Deutschland Tour
- 1st Stage 5
- 6th Overall Tour of California
- 1st Prologue
- 1st
King of the Mountains
- 12th Overall Tour de France
Combativity award, stage 18, Tour de France
- 2007
- Champion, USA Cycling Professional Tour
- 1st
National Road Race Champion
- 1st Overall
Tour of California
- 1st Prologue
- 1st Stage 5 ITT
- 1st Copperopolis Road Race
- 1st Stage 4 ITT, Tour de Georgia
- 1st Stage 5 Tour de Georgia
- 1st Stage 3 ITT, Tour of Missouri
- 2nd Overall Deutschland Tour
- 3rd Overall Tour de France
- 1st Stage 19 ITT
- 2008
- 1st Overall
Tour of California
- 1st Stage 5 ITT
- 1st Overall Cascade Cycling Classic
- 1st Clásica a los Puertos de Guadarrama
- 2nd Overall Vuelta a España
- 1st Stage 5
- 1st Stage 20
- 3rd Overall Tour de Georgia
- 3rd Overall Dauphiné Libéré
- 1st Prologue ITT
- 3rd
Individual Time Trial, 2008 Beijing Olympics - 4th UCI Road World Championships Time Trial
- 2009
- 1st Stage 4 TTT Tour de France
- 1st Overall
Tour of California
- 1st Stage 6 ITT Tour of California
- 1st Overall
Vuelta a Castilla y León
- 1st Stage 2 ITT
- 1st stage 2 Sea Otter Classic
- 1st Overall Tour of the Gila
- 1st Stage 1
- 1st Stage 3 ITT
- 5th Overall Giro d’Italia
- 2010
- 1st Overall Tour of the Gila
- 1st Stage 1
- 3rd Overall Tour of California
Grand Tour General Classification results timeline
| Grand Tour | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 18 | 5 | - | |
| - | 8 | WD | 9 | 6 | 12 | 3 | - | WD | 13 | |
| 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | - |
WD=Withdrew




