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The UCI has asked national federations to investigate charges against cyclists and team management who Floyd Landis has named in accusatory emails sent to officials last week.

The Swiss-based international union has asked the Australian federation to investigate Matt White, Belgium’s to investigate Johan Bruyneel, the French cycling federation to investigate the charges against John Lelangue and the Candian Federation to review Landis’ charges against Michael Barry.

(Related: UCI Press Release | Directory of VeloNews articles on Landis’ allegations)

The UCI said the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has already begun an investigation of Americans Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer, Jim Ochowicz and David Zabriskie.

“The UCI’s request is aimed at establishing, in an objective manner, whether or not events potentially constituting a breach of the Anti-Doping Rules occurred,” a UCI press release said.
“This does not in any way imply that the UCI considers the allegations made by Mr. Landis to have any basis.”

Return to related story.

PRESS RELEASE:

Allegations by Floyd Landis: the UCI requests inquiries

The International Cycling Union (UCI) has confirmed that it yesterday morning requested the relevant National Federations to carry out inquiries of the accusations made by Mr Floyd Landis against their licence-holders, namely Cycling Australia (Matthew White), Royal Belgian Cycling League (Johan Bruyneel), Canadian Cycling Association (Michael Barry) and the French Cycling Federation (John Lelangue).

An enquiry has also already been opened by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) concerning all the other individuals accused by Mr Landis as these persons have US nationality (Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer, Jim Ochowicz and David Zabriskie).

The UCI’s request is aimed at establishing, in an objective manner, whether or not events potentially constituting a breach of the Anti-Doping Rules occurred. This does not in any way imply that the UCI considers the allegations made by Mr Landis to have any basis.

-UCI Press Service

Michael Rogers held off the challenge of David Zabriskie and defending champion Levi Leipheimer to win the Tour of California.

Sunday May 23, Stage 8: Thousand Oaks circuit race (83.5 miles)
Stage results | FINAL GC (Overall results)

Stage report | Results listing for all stages | Stage sprint points | Points results | Young rider results | Stage climber points | Overall climber points results | Stage team results | Overall team GC results | Abandons, this stage

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Stage results | Top of page

• 1. Ryder Hesjedal Garmin-Transitions in 03:21:56
• 2. George Hincapie BMC Racing Team at 00:00:00
• 3. Carlos Barredo Llamazales Quick Step at 00:00:00
• 4. Christopher Horner Team RadioShack at 00:00:00
• 5. Oscar Pujol Munoz Cervélo TestTeam at 00:00:05
• 6. Sebastian Langeveld Rabobank Cycling Team at 00:00:28
• 7. Levi Leipheimer Team RadioShack at 00:00:28
• 8. Michael Rogers HTC-Columbia at 00:00:28
• 9. David Zabriskie Garmin-Transitions at 00:00:28
• 10. Yaroslav Popovych Team RadioShack at 00:00:34
• 11. Peter Sagan Liquigas-Doimo at 00:01:00
• 12. Charles Dionne Fly V Australia at 00:01:00
• 13. Maarten Tjallingii Rabobank Cycling Team at 00:01:00
• 14. Valeriy Kobzarenko Team Type 1 at 00:01:00
• 15. Steve Morabito BMC Racing Team at 00:01:00
• 16. Janez Brajkovic Team RadioShack at 00:01:00
• 17. Jens Voigt Team Saxo Bank at 00:01:00
• 18. Christopher Jones Team Type 1 at 00:01:00
• 19. Phil Zajicek Fly V Australia at 00:01:00
• 20. Rory Sutherland Unitedhealthcare Presented by Maxxis at 00:01:00
• 21. Francesco Bellotti Liquigas-Doimo at 00:01:00
• 22. Peter Stetina Garmin-Transitions at 00:01:00
• 23. Andy Schleck Team Saxo Bank at 00:01:42
• 24. Dominique Rollin Cervélo TestTeam at 00:02:04
• 25. Jeremy Powers Jelly Belly Presented by Kenda at 00:02:05
• 26. Marc De Maar Unitedhealthcare Presented by Maxxis at 00:02:05
• 27. Lucas Euser SpiderTech Powered by Planet Energy at 00:02:05
• 28. Robert Britton Bissell Pro Cycling at 00:02:47
• 29. Paul Mach Bissell Pro Cycling at 00:02:47
• 30. Bradley White Unitedhealthcare Presented by Maxxis at 00:02:47
• 31. Jeremy Vennell Bissell Pro Cycling at 00:02:52
• 32. Tony Martin HTC-Columbia at 00:02:54
• 33. Tejay Van Garderen HTC-Columbia at 00:02:54
• 34. Scott Zwizanski Kelly Benefit Strategies at 00:05:45
• 35. Thomas Rabou Team Type 1 at 00:05:47
• 36. Matthew Wilson Garmin-Transitions at 00:10:22
• 37. Max Jenkins Unitedhealthcare Presented by Maxxis at 00:10:46
• 38. Jason Mccartney Team RadioShack at 00:14:59
• 39. Grischa Niermann Rabobank Cycling Team at 00:15:11
• 40. Paul Martens Rabobank Cycling Team at 00:15:12
• 41. Ben Jacques-maynes Bissell Pro Cycling at 00:15:12
• 42. Kevin Hulsmans Quick Step at 00:15:12
• 43. Reid Mumford Kelly Benefit Strategies at 00:15:12
• 44. Nikolas Maes Quick Step at 00:15:12
• 45. Thomas Peterson Garmin-Transitions at 00:15:12
• 46. Peter Latham Bissell Pro Cycling at 00:15:12
• 47. Steven Cozza Garmin-Transitions at 00:15:12
• 48. Jakob Fuglsang Team Saxo Bank at 00:15:12
• 49. Ytting Bak Lars HTC-Columbia at 00:15:12
• 50. Simon Zahner BMC Racing Team at 00:15:12
• 51. Davide Frattini Team Type 1 at 00:15:12
• 52. Javier Megias Leal Team Type 1 at 00:15:12
• 53. Chad Beyer BMC Racing Team at 00:15:12
• 54. Bruno Langlois SpiderTech Powered by Planet Energy at 00:15:12
• 55. Andreas Stauff Quick Step at 00:15:12
• 56. Christopher Butler BMC Racing Team at 00:15:12
• 57. Matti Breschel Team Saxo Bank at 00:15:12
• 58. Bernard Sulzberger Fly V Australia at 00:15:12
• 59. David Boily SpiderTech Powered by Planet Energy at 00:15:12
• 60. Darren Lill Fly V Australia at 00:15:12
• 61. Kiel Reijnen Jelly Belly Presented by Kenda at 00:15:12
• 62. Andrew Randell SpiderTech Powered by Planet Energy at 00:15:12
• 63. Christopher Baldwin Unitedhealthcare Presented by Maxxis at 00:15:12

FINAL GC after stage | Top of page

• 1. Michael Rogers HTC-Columbia in 33:08:30
• 2. David Zabriskie Garmin-Transitions at 00:00:09
• 3. Levi Leipheimer Team RadioShack at 00:00:25
• 4. Christopher Horner Team RadioShack at 00:01:04
• 5. Ryder Hesjedal Garmin-Transitions at 00:01:08
• 6. Jens Voigt Team Saxo Bank at 00:01:44
• 7. Rory Sutherland Unitedhealthcare Presented by Maxxis at 00:01:58
• 8. Peter Sagan Liquigas-Doimo at 00:02:06
• 9. Janez Brajkovic Team RadioShack at 00:02:42
• 10. Phil Zajicek Fly V Australia at 00:03:21
• 11. Peter Stetina Garmin-Transitions at 00:03:57
• 12. Steve Morabito BMC Racing Team at 00:04:40
• 13. Marc De Maar Unitedhealthcare Presented by Maxxis at 00:04:57
• 14. Valeriy Kobzarenko Team Type 1 at 00:04:59
• 15. George Hincapie BMC Racing Team at 00:05:25
• 16. Christopher Jones Team Type 1 at 00:06:34
• 17. Tony Martin HTC-Columbia at 00:06:48
• 18. Lucas Euser SpiderTech Powered by Planet Energy at 00:08:19
• 19. Grischa Niermann Rabobank Cycling Team at 00:23:09
• 20. Paul Martens Rabobank Cycling Team at 00:29:47
• 21. Jeremy Vennell Bissell Pro Cycling at 00:33:20
• 22. Francesco Bellotti Liquigas-Doimo at 00:35:34
• 23. Thomas Peterson Garmin-Transitions at 00:36:26
• 24. Andy Schleck Team Saxo Bank at 00:36:33
• 25. Jakob Fuglsang Team Saxo Bank at 00:36:38
• 26. Scott Zwizanski Kelly Benefit Strategies at 00:39:58
• 27. Paul Mach Bissell Pro Cycling at 00:41:35
• 28. Tejay Van Garderen HTC-Columbia at 00:41:42
• 29. Yaroslav Popovych Team RadioShack at 00:44:26
• 30. Thomas Rabou Team Type 1 at 00:45:58
• 31. Ytting Bak Lars HTC-Columbia at 00:47:28
• 32. Carlos Barredo Llamazales Quick Step at 00:49:33
• 33. Matthew Wilson Garmin-Transitions at 00:52:49
• 34. Oscar Pujol Munoz Cervélo TestTeam at 00:54:41
• 35. Charles Dionne Fly V Australia at 00:55:57
• 36. Jason Mccartney Team RadioShack at 00:56:32
• 37. David Boily SpiderTech Powered by Planet Energy at 00:56:35
• 38. Bernard Sulzberger Fly V Australia at 01:01:52
• 39. Christopher Baldwin Unitedhealthcare Presented by Maxxis at 01:03:34
• 40. Ben Jacques-maynes Bissell Pro Cycling at 01:05:09
• 41. Christopher Butler BMC Racing Team at 01:06:35
• 42. Darren Lill Fly V Australia at 01:15:41
• 43. Max Jenkins Unitedhealthcare Presented by Maxxis at 01:21:22
• 44. Robert Britton Bissell Pro Cycling at 01:23:43
• 45. Matti Breschel Team Saxo Bank at 01:25:26
• 46. Maarten Tjallingii Rabobank Cycling Team at 01:25:33
• 47. Simon Zahner BMC Racing Team at 01:25:46
• 48. Chad Beyer BMC Racing Team at 01:31:58
• 49. Kiel Reijnen Jelly Belly Presented by Kenda at 01:33:01
• 50. Bradley White Unitedhealthcare Presented by Maxxis at 01:34:21
• 51. Reid Mumford Kelly Benefit Strategies at 01:34:30
• 52. Jeremy Powers Jelly Belly Presented by Kenda at 01:35:56
• 53. Sebastian Langeveld Rabobank Cycling Team at 01:36:52
• 54. Dominique Rollin Cervélo TestTeam at 01:38:40
• 55. Davide Frattini Team Type 1 at 01:38:45
• 56. Nikolas Maes Quick Step at 01:40:23
• 57. Peter Latham Bissell Pro Cycling at 01:41:20
• 58. Andrew Randell SpiderTech Powered by Planet Energy at 01:43:53
• 59. Steven Cozza Garmin-Transitions at 01:46:50
• 60. Kevin Hulsmans Quick Step at 01:51:10
• 61. Bruno Langlois SpiderTech Powered by Planet Energy at 01:52:09
• 62. Andreas Stauff Quick Step at 01:52:48
• 63. Javier Megias Leal Team Type 1 at 01:55:13

Daily sprint points | Top of page
Sprint #1:

• 1. Carlos Barredo Llamazales Quick Step 5 points
• 2. George Hincapie BMC Racing Team 3 points
• 3. Jeremy Vennell Bissell Pro Cycling 1 points

Sprint #2

• 1. Oscar Pujol Munoz Cervélo TestTeam 5 points
• 2. George Hincapie BMC Racing Team 3 points
• 3. Yaroslav Popovych Team RadioShack 1 points

FINAL Overall Points standings | Top of page

• 1. Peter Sagan Liquigas-Doimo 49 points
• 2. Michael Rogers HTC-Columbia 41 points
• 3. David Zabriskie Garmin-Transitions 30 points
• 4. Levi Leipheimer Team RadioShack 29 points
• 5. Ryder Hesjedal Garmin-Transitions 28 points
• 6. Rory Sutherland Unitedhealthcare Presented by Maxxis 26 points
• 7. George Hincapie BMC Racing Team 19 points
• 8. Christopher Horner Team RadioShack 17 points
• 9. Carlos Barredo Llamazales Quick Step 15 points
• 10. Paul Martens Rabobank Cycling Team 12 points
• 11. Oscar Pujol Munoz Cervélo TestTeam 11 points
• 12. Andy Schleck Team Saxo Bank 10 points
• 13. Thomas Rabou Team Type 1 9 points
• 14. Jens Voigt Team Saxo Bank 8 points
• 15. Maarten Tjallingii Rabobank Cycling Team 6 points
• 16. Jeremy Powers Jelly Belly Presented by Kenda 6 points
• 17. Andreas Stauff Quick Step 6 points
• 18. Chad Beyer BMC Racing Team 5 points
• 19. Tony Martin HTC-Columbia 5 points
• 20. Sebastian Langeveld Rabobank Cycling Team 5 points
• 21. Phil Zajicek Fly V Australia 5 points
• 22. Marc De Maar Unitedhealthcare Presented by Maxxis 4 points
• 23. Jason Mccartney Team RadioShack 3 points
• 24. Paul Mach Bissell Pro Cycling 3 points
• 25. Andrew Randell SpiderTech Powered by Planet Energy 2 points
• 26. Yaroslav Popovych Team RadioShack 2 points
• 27. Ytting Bak Lars HTC-Columbia 2 points
• 28. Nikolas Maes Quick Step 2 points
• 29. Jeremy Vennell Bissell Pro Cycling 1 points
• 30. Matthew Wilson Garmin-Transitions 1 points
• 31. Robert Britton Bissell Pro Cycling 1 points

FINAL Young rider standings | Top of page

• 1. Peter Sagan Liquigas-Doimo in 33:10:36
• 2. Peter Stetina Garmin-Transitions at 00:01:51
• 3. Thomas Peterson Garmin-Transitions at 00:34:20
• 4. Tejay Van Garderen HTC-Columbia at 00:39:36
• 5. David Boily SpiderTech Powered by Planet Energy at 00:54:29
• 6. Christopher Butler BMC Racing Team at 01:04:29
• 7. Max Jenkins Unitedhealthcare Presented by Maxxis at 01:19:16
• 8. Chad Beyer BMC Racing Team at 01:29:52
• 9. Kiel Reijnen Jelly Belly Presented by Kenda at 01:30:55
• 10. Nikolas Maes Quick Step at 01:38:17
• 11. Andreas Stauff Quick Step at 01:50:42

Daily climber points | Top of page
KOM #1:

• 1. Ryder Hesjedal Garmin-Transitions 4 points
• 2. Thomas Danielson Garmin-Transitions 3 points
• 3. David Zabriskie Garmin-Transitions 2 points
• 4. Tony Martin HTC-Columbia 1 points

KOM #2:

• 1. Thomas Rabou Team Type 1 4 points
• 2. Carlos Barredo Llamazales Quick Step 3 points
• 3. Yaroslav Popovych Team RadioShack 2 points
• 4. Tony Martin HTC-Columbia 1 points

KOM #3:

• 1. Thomas Rabou Team Type 1 6 points
• 2. Yaroslav Popovych Team RadioShack 5 points
• 3. George Hincapie BMC Racing Team 4 points
• 4. Sebastian Langeveld Rabobank Cycling Team 3 points
• 5. Oscar Pujol Munoz Cervélo TestTeam 1 points

KOM #4:

• 1. Oscar Pujol Munoz Cervélo TestTeam 6 points
• 2. Carlos Barredo Llamazales Quick Step 5 points
• 3. George Hincapie BMC Racing Team 4 points
• 4. Christopher Horner Team RadioShack 3 points
• 5. David Zabriskie Garmin-Transitions 1 points

FINAL Overall Climber standings | Top of page

• 1. Thomas Rabou Team Type 1 77 points
• 2. George Hincapie BMC Racing Team 27 points
• 3. Davide Frattini Team Type 1 20 points
• 4. Andy Schleck Team Saxo Bank 15 points
• 5. Jason Mccartney Team RadioShack 15 points
• 6. Paul Mach Bissell Pro Cycling 14 points
• 7. Matthew Wilson Garmin-Transitions 14 points
• 8. Robert Britton Bissell Pro Cycling 11 points
• 9. Levi Leipheimer Team RadioShack 11 points
• 10. Andrew Randell SpiderTech Powered by Planet Energy 10 points
• 11. Jakob Fuglsang Team Saxo Bank 10 points
• 12. David Zabriskie Garmin-Transitions 9 points
• 13. Ryder Hesjedal Garmin-Transitions 9 points
• 14. Carlos Barredo Llamazales Quick Step 8 points
• 15. Michael Rogers HTC-Columbia 7 points
• 16. Oscar Pujol Munoz Cervélo TestTeam 7 points
• 17. Yaroslav Popovych Team RadioShack 7 points
• 18. Jeremy Powers Jelly Belly Presented by Kenda 5 points
• 19. Janez Brajkovic Team RadioShack 5 points
• 20. Marc De Maar Unitedhealthcare Presented by Maxxis 5 points
• 21. Grischa Niermann Rabobank Cycling Team 5 points
• 22. Max Jenkins Unitedhealthcare Presented by Maxxis 4 points
• 23. Maarten Tjallingii Rabobank Cycling Team 4 points
• 24. Christopher Horner Team RadioShack 3 points
• 25. Sebastian Langeveld Rabobank Cycling Team 3 points
• 26. Chad Beyer BMC Racing Team 3 points
• 27. Tony Martin HTC-Columbia 2 points
• 28. Ytting Bak Lars HTC-Columbia 1 points

Daily team results | Top of page

• 1. Team RadioShack in 10:06:50
• 2. Garmin-Transitions at 00:00:26
• 3. Unitedhealthcare Presented by Maxxis at 00:04:50
• 4. HTC-Columbia at 00:05:14
• 5. Team Type 1 at 00:06:45
• 6. Bissell Pro Cycling at 00:07:24
• 7. BMC Racing Team at 00:15:10
• 8. Rabobank Cycling Team at 00:15:37
• 9. Fly V Australia at 00:16:10
• 10. Team Saxo Bank at 00:16:52
• 11. Quick Step at 00:29:22
• 12. SpiderTech Powered by Planet Energy at 00:31:27

FINAL Team GC standings | Top of page

• 1. Garmin-Transitions in 99:29:17
• 2. Team RadioShack at 00:00:02
• 3. HTC-Columbia at 00:06:58
• 4. Unitedhealthcare Presented by Maxxis at 00:38:38
• 5. Team Type 1 at 00:51:37
• 6. BMC Racing Team at 01:00:54
• 7. Team Saxo Bank at 01:04:11
• 8. Rabobank Cycling Team at 01:23:35
• 9. Fly V Australia at 01:33:35
• 10. Bissell Pro Cycling at 01:57:41
• 11. Quick Step at 02:16:48
• 12. SpiderTech Powered by Planet Energy at 02:18:07

Abandons, this stage | Top of page

• Jose Luis Rubiera Vigil Team RadioShack
• Dmitriy Muravyev Team RadioShack
• Bernhard Eisel HTC-Columbia
• Bert Grabsch HTC-Columbia
• Fabian Cancellara Team Saxo Bank
• Lars Boom Rabobank Cycling Team
• Thomas Leezer Rabobank Cycling Team
• Davide Cimolai Liquigas-Doimo
• Manuel Quinziato Liquigas-Doimo
• Ivan Santaromita Liquigas-Doimo
• Brian Vandborg Liquigas-Doimo
• Walle Jurgen Van De Quick Step
• Maarten Wynants Quick Step
• Thomas Danielson Garmin-Transitions
• Robert Hunter Garmin-Transitions
• Alexander Kristoff BMC Racing Team
• Jeremy Hunt Cervélo TestTeam
• Brett Lancaster Cervélo TestTeam
• Andy Jacques-maynes Bissell Pro Cycling
• Bernard Van Ulden Jelly Belly Presented by Kenda

:

THOUSAND OAKS, California, May 23, 2010 (AFP) – Aussie Michael Rogers won the Tour of California Sunday, edging runner-up David Zabriskie and upstaging three-time defending champ Levi Leipheimer, who finished third.

Canadian Ryder Hesjedal won the 134.4 km (83 mile) final stage of the eight day event which was overshadowed by Floyd Landis’ accusations of doping by his former American teammate Lance Armstrong.

“They made me sweat until the end,” Rogers said. “I really didn’t expect this stage to be so hard.”

Columbia team rider Rogers, 30, lifted the title in America’s premier road cycling race ahead of Zabriskie (Garmin) and Leipheimer (RadioShack). Leipheimer had won the previous three editions of the event.

Rogers, who had seized the yellow jersey on Thursday, fended off the attack of Zabriskie and Leipheimer to finish in the group behind the five who contested for the stage victory in the hills above Los Angeles.

Zabriskie was second overall, nine seconds behind Rogers while Leipheimer was 25 seconds back.

“We gave it a good try,” said Leipheimer. “Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. Am I disappointed? Not at all.”

Hesjedal claimed the final stage as he out-sprinted George Hincapie and Carlos Barredo, while a determined attack by his Garmin teammate Zabriskie and Leipheimer on the final lap of the circuit in the rolling country west of Los Angeles fell short.

The winner of the first Tour of California in 2006, Landis wasn’t asked to compete in this year’s race.

The event lost its marquee performer Armstrong on Thursday when the seven-time Tour de France champion crashed out of the race with injuries to his face and elbow.

The crash happened just hours after Armstrong was forced to fend off fresh accusations of doping — this time from his former cycling pal Landis.

Armstrong vehemently denied the accusations from Landis who attended Saturday’s stage but didn’t speak to reporters.

Rogers said the focus should be on the athletes and not the drug problems but also added the chilling admission that, “doping is killing our sport.”

He said, “I’m getting a little bit sick of all this stuff”, adding we need “to get away from negativity”.

Leipheimer said he is mystified by Landis’ doping claims against Armstrong and others.

“I can’t begin to understand what’s going through his mind, but it doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t think it’s worth trying to reason with him.”

Leipheimer defended the sport by saying, “I really believe cycling is much, much cleaner than in the past. It’s fair and it’s clean.”

Armstrong’s current RadioShack teammate George Hincapie said Landis’ statements were “definitely very disappointing.”

“Whoever wants to talk about something eight years old can waste their time,” Hincapie said.

Unlike Hincapie former Tour de France winner Greg Lemond said earlier this week he believes “most of Floyd Landis’ statements” and the future of the sport could be at stake.

“I imagine from my own experiences that today he is paying a heavy price for his honesty and I support Floyd in his attempt to free himself from his (doping) past,” the 48-year-old American Lemond said.

“My position … is to advocate for deep and systemic change in the sport to eliminate the scourge of dope.

“The sport needs to change its governance and its culture to survive long term.”

Overall standings
1. Michael Rogers (AUS/HTC-Columbia) in 33 hours, eight minutes, 30 seconds
2. David Zabriskie (USA) at 09
3. Levi Leipheimer (USA) 25
4. Christopher Horner (USA) 1:04
5. Ryder Hesjedal (CAN) 1:08.
6. Jens Voigt (GER) 1:44.
7. Rory Sutherland (AUS) 1:58.
8. Peter Sagan (SVK) 2:06.
9. Janez Brajkovic (SLO) 2:42.
10. Phil Zajicek (USA) 3:21.
…
12. Steve Morabito (SUI) 4:40.
15. George Hincapie (USA) 5:25.
24. Andy Schleck (LUX) 36:33.

Stage 8 results
1. Ryder Hesjedal (CAN/Garmin) 134km in three hours, 21 minutes, 56 seconds
2. George Hincapie (USA) same time
3. Carlos Baredo (ESP) s.t.
4. Christopher Horner (USA) s.t.
5. Oscar Pujol (ESP) at 05
6. Sebastian Langeveld (NED) 28
7. Levi Leipheimer (USA) 28
8. Michael Rogers (AUS) 28
9. David Zabriskie (USA) 28
10. Yaroslav Popovych (UKR) 34
…
23. Andy Schleck (LUX) 01:42
Abandon: Fabian Cancellara (SUI)

In one of the finest performances of his career, Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) won the fifth Amgen Tour of California on Sunday after withstanding relentless attacks from his closest rivals in the final miles of the hilly concluding circuit race at Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks.

“It was a huge day for us.” Rogers said. “I was so excited to hang on and win.”

The Australian’s victory ended a three-year streak at the California tour for Levi Leipheimer (RadioShack), who wound up third overall, behind runner-up Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Transitions).

“There was a lot of pressure, mostly from myself and that’s to win and nothing else,” Leipheimer said. “Am I disappointed? Not at all. I rode well, I gave it everything I had. I think I was the main animator of the race and I think I have to take pride in that.”

Zabriskie’s teammate Ryder Hesjedal won stage 8 by out-sprinting a five-man breakaway group that included George Hincapie (BMC Racing) and Carlos Barredo (Quick Step), with Chris Horner (RadioShack) in fourth.

“I think a win on the last stage goes really well,” Hesjedal said. “That was kind of the focus near the end there. For Dave to get away from Mick and overcome that (nine-second) deficit was obviously a tall order, and I think we did the best we could and came out the best we could.”

Indeed, Zabriskie and Leipheimer did everything they could to get away from Rogers in a thrilling finale, and both paid homage to the man who defeated them. “I salute Michael for how he clawed back each time.” Leipheimer said.

Garmin-Transitions in control

The final stage was an 83.5-mile circuit race in the hills that overlook the Pacific Ocean northwest of Los Angeles, comprising four laps of a technical 21-mile circuit. Zabriskie’s team signaled from the start that it intended to take control of the stage, driving the pack for the first lap and a half, preventing any breakaway from getting more than a few seconds’ advantage.

“We wanted to ride aggressive today and show ourselves well,” Hesjedal said.

By the end of the first lap the front group was down 31 riders, including all the favorites, while a group of 15 including fourth-place overall Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank) was a half-minute back. He was helped by his teammate Andy Schleck and Fabian Cancellara to close the gap. Things settled down after that because, as Rogers said, “We could see from the first lap that the big attacks were going to come on the last lap.”.

KOM leader Thomas Rabou (Team Type 1) was aggressive the second time up the infamous Rock Store climb, getting into several small attacks, including one with Quick Step’s Barredo on the second lap that built a small gap and then was absorbed by a larger group, forming a breakaway of seven riders:

• George Hincapie (BMC), 18th at 6:03
• Jeremy Vennell (Bissell), 25th at 30:57
• Thomas Rabou (TT1), 33rd at 40:39
• Yaroslav Popovych (RadioShack), 37th at 44:21
• Carlos Barredo (Quick Step), 41st at 50:08
• Oscar Pujol (Cervélo), 44th at 55:07
• Sebastian Langeveld (Rabobank), 77th at 1:36:52

“I woke up this morning and I was thinking it would be really cool to be in the breakaway with the KOM jersey,” Rabou said, “so I tried to do it and my goal was achieved.”

Hincapie was the best-placed rider in the break, and HTC-Columbia paid attention, taking over at the front as the pack tackled its third lap, with some assistance from RadioShack.

On the penultimate descent, Hincapie, Popovych and Pujol got away from the others, but the group of seven came back together to start the final lap with a gap of nearly three minutes.

Final lap throw-down

With Zabriskie’s ambitions slipping away, Garmin began chasing in earnest at the start of the last lap and the gap was down to a minute as they approached the final haul up Rock Store, where tens of thousands of fans rivaled crowds seen at the Tour de France. The yellow jersey group strung out single file and the gap began plummeting as Garmin’s Matt Wilson drilled it at the front, with Rogers and his guard and the RadioShack group keeping close to the front.

Leipheimer had an untimely flat near the base of the climb, taking a new rear wheel from teammate Jason McCartney and moving back up through the caravan with help from teammates Jani Brajkovic and Horner.

When asked whether that chase affected how Leipheimer raced on the climb, Horner said, “No, not one change. We got back to them in time and we played out the exact same tactics regardless. I don’t think Levi spent much energy with the flat tire. They changed the wheel pretty fast and as a team we were really good.”

On the final climb for the break, Barredo and Pujol each launched some attacks, shedding Vennell, Popovych and Rabou, but not Hincapie. But the gap was dropping precipitously.

After his chase back from the changed wheel, Leipheimer recovered briefly before launching a sharp attack with just over 10 miles to go. Rogers marked the move immediately, but Zabriskie missed it, relying on Hesjedal to bring him back up.

The attack separated the top of the GC podium from the rest of the pack. On the steep, double-digit-percentage slopes, the elite group was Leipheimer, Zabriskie and Rogers, accompanied by Hesjedal, Horner and Popovych — who faded back from the breakaway to lend a hand.

Right at the 1,824-foot summit, Zabriskie put in a strong surge that set off a series of attacks and counterattacks. “On that climb Levi was going way too hard, and then I tried as hard as I could,” Zabriskie told VeloNews, “but it didn’t work out for me but I set it up well for Ryder.”

Rogers was the only podium player lacking a teammate in the group, and Garmin and RadioShack made the most of it, trading attacks and counter-attacks until Horner and Hesjedal separated themselves along the rollers along the windswept ridge overlooking Malibu.

“It was just my turn to put in an effort and I was able to go away,” Hesjedal said. “I wasn¹t scared of taking Chris along to overtake Dave. It was still up to Mick to keep that in check.”

Hesjedal and Horner closed on to the Hincapie down the rapid, twisting descent where Zabriskie said he took things conservatively. “I didn’t want to fall over a cliff,” he said.

The new gang of five — Hincapie, Pujol and Barredo from the original break and newcomers Horner and Hesjedal — entered the last kilometer together, trailed at half a minute by the three GC kings, Rogers, Zabriskie and Leipheimer.

Barredo led out the sprint before Horner took over and Hesjedal kicked around him. Hincapie was poorly positioned behind Horner and unable to react to Hesjedal’s jump, but came around Horner and Barredo to take second.

A few seconds later, Rogers crossed the line in eighth place with a one-armed salute, secure in his golden leader’s jersey despite the relentless attacks on the final lap.

Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Doimo) led in what was left of the main pack in 11^th place to secure not only the Best Young Rider’s white jersey but also the green points jersey. Peter Sagan  “I am really happy with these two jerseys,” said the 20-year-old Slovak sensation, “because I didn¹t know I could win two jerseys like this in a really important race.”

Three dominant teams

“Three teams have really put on a show every day of this Tour of California,” RadioShack’s Horner said. “Between Garmin, HTC and RadioShack, it was just a good battle. Unfortunately, we lost Chechu (Rubiera) and Lance (Armstrong) and that really changed the outcome for us and how we could play the race basically.”

The team race went right down the wire, and when all the times were added, Garmin took the well-fought team award by just three seconds over RadioShack.

When Rogers was asked what he’ll take away from this race, besides the trophy and his Amgen golden jersey, he said, “I’ll remember the way that the team really stepped up. Like Bernie Eisel and Bert Grabsch doing 130K on the front on the mountain stage to Big Bear Lake, and they are not mountain climbers.”

He also complimented his younger teammates Tony Martin and Tejay Van Garderen, who were there all day on Sunday to help their leader, enabling him to be in position when those attacks from Leipheimer and Zabriskie finally came.

Race notes

• Popovych was awarded the Most Courageous jersey, Rabou took away the final KOM award and Peter Sagan was the Best Young Rider and won the points jersey.

Complete FINAL results

Quick results

Stage results

• 1. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions)
• 2. George Hincapie (BMC)
• 3. Carlos Barredo (Quick Step)
• 4. Chris Horner (RadioShack)

FINAL GC standings:

• 1. Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia)
• 2. Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Transitions)
• 3. Levi Leipheimer (RadioShack)
• 4. Chris Horner (RadioShack)
• 5. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions)

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Stage 8 (5/23): FINAL Results | Galleries | Videos | LIVE Update
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Stage 6 (5/21): Report | Results | Galleries | Videos | LIVE Replay
Stage 5 (5/20): Report | Results | Galleries | Videos | LIVE Replay
Stage 4 (5/19): Report | Results | Galleries | Videos | LIVE Replay
Stage 3 (5/18): Report | Results | Galleries | Videos | LIVE Replay
Stage 2 (5/17): Report | Results | Galleries | Videos | LIVE Replay
Stage 1 (5/16): Report | Results | Galleries | Videos | LIVE Replay

When Amgen Tour of California organizers designed this year’s route, they specifically wanted a final stage difficult enough to upend the general classification. AEG Sports president Andrew Messick had a hand in utilizing his local ride just north of Los Angeles, the Rock Store Loop, while also incorporating the corporate headquarters of title sponsor Amgen, based in Thousand Oaks.

The result is an 84-mile stage — four 21-mile circuits that travel through Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village and Agoura Hills. What starts as a beautiful rolling stage gets a bit challenging at Mulholland Highway. Long regarded as one of the most scenic climbs in southern California and a favorite haunt of motorcyclists, Mulholland Highway features steep climbs and numerous switchbacks. Locals refer to the climb by the Rock Store, a biker bar situated at the base of the climb.

As the riders pass the Malibu Family Winery, they will begin a dangerous and technical descent on Westlake Boulevard. In under an hour, riders will be back at the finish line and bracing themselves for three more laps.

Prior to this year’s Amgen Tour of California, VeloNews sat down with five riders for a stage-by-stage breakdown. Those riders — Levi Leipheimer, Dave Zabriskie, Ben Day, Mike Friedman and Rory Sutherland — have formed an expert panel VeloNews.com referred to all week for insider analysis.

Zabriskie currently sits second overall, nine seconds behind Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia). Leipheimer sits third overall, 25 seconds down, and Sutherland sits fifth overall, 1:26 down. Day was forced to abandon after a concussion on stage 6. Friedman finished stage 6 within the time cut but was not listed on the stage 7 results.

Here’s what they had to say prior to the race:

Levi Leipheimer (USA), RadioShack:
It’s not an easy stage, certainly not if you have leader’s jersey and your team is trying to control the race. Then again, if you’re in the lead and you’ve gotten to that point, you’re strong, and your team is strong, so you should be up for it if you don’t make any mistakes. I’ve heard conflicting reports on the circuit. I’ve heard that it’s hard, and I’ve heard it’s not that hard. The elevation gain is not huge. I know the downhill is really fast, but we do it four times, so we’ll have a chance to see it. Anything is possible. You never know. That’s the day when someone is close, and they’re angry, they’re going to throw everything into it.

Dave Zabriskie (USA), Garmin-Transitions:
That’s one of my standard training rides. I do that Rock Store climb probably every day. It’s not easy. Especially after Big Bear and the TT, it’s going to be very hard. I don’t think it’s going to be an easy day. It depends how aggressive people will be able to be at that point, if they have any energy left, and if they are aggressive, and big groups go, how aggressive the chase is, how much can people tolerate, how much they can survive. And having circuits like that is sort of like the last day at Paris-Nice — “ah, well, there’s the car, there’s the hotel, why not (drop out)? I’m already out of it.” We could see a small amount of finishers, but I think people will try to finish. Nobody likes to drop out.

Rory Sutherland (Australia), UnitedHealthcare-Maxxis:
The first few years of the Amgen Tour of California the last stage wasn’t so hard, when it finished in Long Beach. This year they’ve made it a tough last stage. That makes it exciting to the last day, which, as a rider, you look forward to, cruising on that final stage and seeing fans and family and relaxing a bit. At the same time, it’s another opportunity to win a bike race. I’m pretty excited about the circuit they’ve chosen. It suits a breakaway, especially that far into the race, after the mountains and the time trial, there will be a lot of gaps on GC. I think everyone will be pretty cooked on the eighth day of racing. It’s a great stage for the opportunistic rider to get away and descend down to the finish. Even though it’s a hard circuit, it’s dependent on how it’s raced. It will be an exciting finish.

Mike Friedman (USA), Jelly Belly:
Mulholland Highway is not a small climb. It’s a hard day, and if the GC is close it’ll make the race fast and furious, with a lot of attacks. It could be one of the most epic days, the day. Things could really change a lot, and a lot of teams will know that.

Ben Day (Australia), Fly V Australia:
We had a training camp this year in Agoura Hills. It’s a very tough circuit. We rode quite a few laps. The climb is quite significant. It’s going to be a very aggressive stage. For a team to control this stage they’re going to have to ride very, very hard. It’s about a 10-minute climb at 400 watts. The team leading the tour is going to have to ride a very solid tempo. Over the top of each of the climbs it’s a little bit undulating, and I believe that’s where we’re going to see attacks and a lot of pressure, and the bunch completely strung out. I don’t think we’re going to see a lot of people come to the finish line. This is no Champs-Élysées. It’s going to be very difficult. I think we’re going to see a group of 20 or 30 come into the finish. I think the team that is leading the tour has already shown they’re very strong enough to come to the finish and protect their leader, and I think it’s out of that group that we’re going to see a sprint finish contested by those guys who are very good all-arounders. There will be no piano riding, no easy riding, very little chance for recovery. It’s also a tricky descent on this course, and I hope everyone is going to get down it safely. It’s very tight, very technical, and very close to the finish as well.

Amgen Tour of California fans are used to seeing the faces of Chris Horner, Janiz Brajkovic and Jason McCartney working on the front to protect Levi Leipheimer’s overall lead. Sunday they will see a local team on the point and the RadioShack riders, along with their Garmin-Transitions counterparts, on the attack.

Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) will enter the eighth and final stage of this year’s race with his largest advantage of the week. The three-time world time trial champion has rediscovered his form against the clock this season and put nine seconds into Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Transitions) and distanced Leipheimer to 24 seconds in Saturday’s ITT.

(Related: Rogers defends lead in Los Angeles time trial)

“Considering tomorrow, it ain’t over by any stretch,” said Leipheimer at the finish Saturday.

The Thousand Oaks/Westlake Village/Agoura Hills circuit race is no joke.

“We will have to have our wits about us because obviously the whole race is going to throw at us what they have,” said Rogers. “We have a lot of experience, not only the riders, but our sports directors. They’ve got years and years of experience; we can use all of that to defend.”

What we will likely see on the first circuit of the day is a series of attacks from the Garmin-Transitions and RadioShack riders placed below the top tier on GC. Horner and Peter Stetina fit that bill and will likely try their hardest to soften up the legs of the HTC contingent.

“It’s not over until it’s over,” said Zabriskie. “(Sunday)’s a very hard course. I’ve surveyed the course. It can be windy and there are a couple of good climbs; not that much fun.”

Rogers will have with him stage 7 winner Tony Martin and Tejay Van Garderen, to whom he owes much credit for his overall lead. Van Garderen gave up a wheel during stage 2 to keep Rogers in the lead group when he flatted without service support. Lars Bak is climbing well right now and the pitches of Mulholland Highway are not steep enough to dislodge him or Bert Grabsch until later in the day.

HTC-Columbia will of course do its best to limit any breakaway advantage. King of the Mountains Thomas Rabou (Team Type 1) is hoping to make the break, as is Kiel Reijnen (Jelly Belly-Kenda). Directors Alan Peiper and Rolf Aldag will likely assign Grabsch and Bernhard Eisel to cover those early moves, leaving the faster uphill men to protect Rogers in the GC group as the kilometers drag on.

“We can expect a lot of attacks from guys that are a bit further down in the general classification ranks,” said Rogers. “It’ll be my team’s job to cover them.”

Rogers will focus on the big dogs in the overall. Only an attack by Leipheimer or Zabriskie is likely to draw him out. “My job tomorrow is just to mark the top GC guys,” he said. “I’m very confident with Bert Grabsch, Bernie Eisel, young Tejay, Tony; I think we’ve got a strong team.”

Rogers will need that strong team. The circuit climbs approximately 1,200 vertical feet each lap and  it is entirely possible that an early move could get away and stick it to the line. That depends on the winds we see on Mulholland — with high winds coming off the Pacific, a small, long break will be hard pressed to be the first of the race to find the finish ahead of the bunch.

With Zabriskie within striking distance of Rogers’ lead, HTC is likely to be happy in allowing a move to survive to the finish so  Zabriskie has no chance of getting a finish time bonus. There are a total of 16 seconds available in bonuses during the stage and Rogers will want to see that his GC rivals are unable to make a run at any of the intermediate sprints or the stage finish.

Rogers was confident Saturday that if he can limit his rivals’ time bonuses, he will defend his lead on the final run-in to Thousand Oaks. “Obviously it isn’t a huge lead,” said Rogers. “It’s still nine seconds. Nine seconds, if you count out in meters, it’s a long way.”

Perhaps the most critical portion of Sunday’s circuit is the short, sharp ramp leading to the KOM point atop Mulholland. A narrow, technical descent leads to the flat final kilometers in Thousand Oaks and a well-placed attack on this ramp could spring a rider free for the plunge to the finish. Garmin teammates Ryder Hesjedal and Zabriskie go downhill very well; if one of them sneaks away before the descent, they could very well put enough time into the HTC chase to wrestle the jersey away on the final day.

With a challenging circuit, a tight GC and Garmin and Radioshack both with multiple riders close to the overall lead, Sunday’s circuit race shapes up to be the most explosive stage of the race. Rogers has confidence in his team, though, and with the test ahead of them, that faith will be tried.

Team HTC-Columbia’s Michael Rogers increased his lead in the overall classification at the Amgen Tour of California on Saturday by finishing second to his teammate Tony Martin in the time trial. Martin flew around the downtown Los Angeles course in a time of 41’41” taking his first win of the season and confirming his place as a world class time trialer.

Rogers now leads the General Classification by nine seconds over David Zabriskie with one stage remaining.

“To beat Dave and Levi [Leipheimer] is a great ride for me and I’m really happy to be able to take the yellow jersey into the final stage,” said Rogers. “The race is definitely not over. The other teams will throw everything they’ve got at us tomorrow but I’m confident that our team can handle that. All the guys were really strong yesterday in the mountain stage so with Bernie [Eisel], [Bert] Grabschy, young Tejay [Van Garderen] and of course Tony we have a good chance Sunday.”

Martin was very happy to have the ride of his life after having a hard day working for Rogers in the mountains yesterday. “It has not been the best season for me so far because of a bad knee injury,” he said. “The spring was not so good. But now I am feeling good and I’m really happy to have had such a strong ride this week. Now I’m looking forward to the next big highlight, the Tour de France.”

The finale tomorrow is a challenging circuit race in the Malibu Hills of Los Angeles.

Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) showed on Saturday in downtown Los Angeles that he is back at the top of his game. He didn’t win the stage 7 time trial in the Amgen Tour of California, that victory went to his German teammate Tony Martin, but Rogers came in second and extended his lead on his nearest challengers, to go into Sunday’s final stage with a nine-second lead on Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Transitions) and 25 seconds on Levi Leipheimer (RadioShack).

Martin, who was third in last year’s world time trial championship, took his first win of the season with a superb effort. His winning time of 41:41 represented an impressive average speed of 48.364 kph (30.052 mph) over a two-lap 33.6km (20.9-mile) course that featured rough roads, tight corners and squally conditions.

He finished 22 seconds ahead of runner-up Rogers, with Zabriskie in third (at 27 seconds) and Leipheimer fourth (33 seconds back). Potential challenger Peter Sagan (Liquigas) was a disappointing 17^th on the day, and dropped from third to seventh overall, while Aussie Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthcare-Maxxis) was ninth fastest in the TT and moved up to fifth on GC.

After his big day, Rogers said, “A lot of people doubted us before the start of this stage and said that we couldn’t do it, “but we did. It’s not over, but in the meantime, we’re one step closer.”

The overall win is still in play on Sunday’s circuit race at Thousand Oaks, but the task has become much tougher for Zabriskie and Leipheimer. The two Americans did good time trials, but not quite as good as they expected.

“I was disappointed, of course,” Zabriskie said. “I was a little bit off, but went pretty good. I don’t think the race is over yet. I’d say that, even if I was in the leader’s jersey.”

Leipheimer said, “It’s not the best I’ve ever been. I don’t want to be making excuses, but I was hoping for about two percent more. I think Dave and Mick have just been that fraction better than me all week.”

Great day for LA

Saturday dawned bright, clear and windy in Los Angeles as the Amgen Tour of California took over the downtown streets so familiar from television and movies — the riders even passed the office building made famous by the vintage TV series, “Dragnet.” The course was two laps on a dogbone-shaped route with a long, straight drag strip book-ended by a bumpy loop around the Coliseum at the southern end and a hilly, rectangular sweep at the northern end.

Bert Grabsch (HTC-Columbia), the 2008 world time trial champion, set an early top time of 42:47 that stood for more than an hour, before his teammate Martin took over the hot seat with his 41:41. Martin, who was prominent at the front of the pack Friday working for Rogers, was not a GC contender but set a time that his teammate could target.

“I was getting the split times from my trainer (Brian Holm),” Martin said. “I heard I was 30 seconds faster than Bert, then a minute, so I knew I was doing a good ride. I didn’t know I had the legs to win because I had to dig really deep yesterday.”

Martin’s time for the first lap of 20.52 was faster that all the splits of the men at the top of the GC leader board. Leipheimer came through in 21:04, Zabriskie in 20:57 and Rogers in 20:53 — one second behind his teammate.

Asked about the course and its many turns, Martin said, “I saw the road this morning and saw it was not too technical. I didn’t take any chances, I’m known as a careful rider, so I just tried to stay on my bike.”

The day’s biggest surprise was Saxo Bank’s veteran German Jens Voigt, who was fifth on the stage with a time of 42:40. which moved him into fourth overall.

The big guns

The three GC rivals had contrasting styles: Leipheimer was compact, often dipping his head down onto his forearms. Rogers looked muscular and powerful, with some rocking of the shoulders and head. Zabriskie’s upper body was nearly motionless, with a flat back and narrow shoulders.

They were so evenly matched that they set almost identical times on the second of their two laps. Rogers and Leipheimer both rode the last 17km in 20:10, while Zabriskie was one second slower. In contrast, Martin came through much stronger with a second split of 20:49.

“Everyone started tired this morning,” Rogers said. “I went as hard as I could and tried to hold onto it. I just saw a bunch of roads in front of me. I didn’t see too much.”

Leipheimer used similar words, saying, “For the way I felt, I pushed it as hard as I could and didn’t make any mistakes. It was really windy and rough out there and hard to hold onto the bars.”

But neither Leipheimer nor Zabriskie is conceding the overall title. Garmin’s Zabriskie said, “It’s not over until it’s over. Tomorrow’s a very hard course. I’ve surveyed the course. It can be windy and there are a couple of good climbs. Not that much fun.”

Leipheimer said, “Of course, when I come to the Tour of California when I don’t win, I lose. So there are a lot of expectations. Considering tomorrow, I don’t think it’s over. This Tour of California has been very, very hard and among the top few there hasn’t been much selection. It’s been very tight all week. But overall it’s been very hard and tomorrow won’t be any different.”

Up next

The final stage of this year’s Amgen Tour of California is Sunday’s Thousand Oaks-Westlake Village-Agoura Hills circuit. This challenging finale will likely see the overall leaders marking each other, giving the lesser lights a chance at winning the stage. Four times up the infamous Rock Store climb (4km at 7 percent) will make this a race of attrition, much like a world road championship, but the 134.4km distance is only half that of a worlds. (Related: 2010 Tour of California route).

Complete results

Quick results

Stage results

• 1. Martin, 41:41
• 2. Rogers, 42:03
• 3. Zabriskie 42:08
• 4. Leipheimer, 42:14
• 5. Voigt, 43:13

GC standings

• 1. Rogers
• 2. Zabriskie
• 3. Leipheimer
• 4. Voigt
• 5. Sutherland