Levi Leipheimer rode to a solo victory in stage 2 of the Tour of Utah and now leads the six-day race, as a solo rider. Leipheimer (Team RadioShack) is competing in the national event wearing the Mellow Johnny’s jersey. The winner last Saturday in his debut in the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race in Colorado, Leipheimer pedaled to 51-second solo win in the hilly 126.3-kilometer road race to Mount Nebo. With the stage victory, Leipheimer assumed a 56-second advantage over Francisco Mancebo, who placed second in the stage. Darren Lill, fourth in the stage, is now third overall, trailing Leipheimer by 1:16.
Levi Leipheimer rode away from an elite selection of six riders high on the 21-K- / 13-mile summit climb of Mt. Nebo. He countered an attack by 2009 overall winner Francisco Mancebo (Canyon Bicycles) 5km from the finish and held off Mancebo and Ian Boswell (Bissell) for the win.
“The last 5km it was windy, high altitude,” said Leipheimer. “I went away and felt good, but you do one big effort and altitude is crazy — it makes you hurt really bad. I just tried not to go too far over my limit and keep it steady. I knew that behind they were hurting and they weren’t working together well. I took the jersey, whatever, I probably won’t hang onto it until the end of the race, but I came here to win a stage and I saw the opportunity, so I had to take it.”
Result Stage 2: Thanksgiving Point – Wasatch Ranch: 126.3 km / 77 mi
1 Levi Leipheimer 3:11:43; 2 Francisco Mancebo 00:51; 3 Ian Boswell 00:52; 4 Darren Lill 01:00; 5 Phil Zajicek; 6 Jonathan McCarthy; 7 Maxim Jenkins; 8 Tyler Wren; 9 Cesar Grajales; 10 Tim Roe
General Classification after Stage 2:
1 Levi Leipheimer 6:40:36; 2 Francisco Mancebo 00:56; 3 Darren Lill 01:16
Source: Team Radioshack Press Release
Keep it up Levi, Way To Go.
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