What did we learn from Tour of California

The Tour of California is in the books and Levi Leipheimer, as expected, came away the winner. I have to give him his due, he really dominated that race. And his team was too strong for anyone else to really challenge. I feel like there was a time when Levi was seen as another great American cyclist and one who maybe could fill the void when Lance Armstrong left. But then he never really matched Armstrong's dominance. Still, he's had a very successful couple of years and I think in my mind I've never really appreciated what he's done. Here's some highlights from his career.

• Vuelta a Espana on the podium - twice (3rd and 2nd)
• Tour de France top 10's - three times
• Tour de France podium - once (3rd)
• Dauphine Libere - winner once and podium once (3rd)
• Bronze medal at Olympics
• Tour of California - winner three times

Not a bad body of work. I'll be curious to see what Levi has left in the tank for the rest of the season. I believe he's riding in the Giro d'talia and Tour de France, but that will be in a support role for Armstrong and Alberto Contador. However, I always wonder how much "support" Levi is willing to give. Last year in Spain it looked like he was downright gunning for Contador at some points. And perhaps rightly so, I remember reading that without time bonuses Levi would have only been a few seconds down from Contador when all was said and done. So congrats to Levi.

Lance is just scary
So Armstrong really did work his tail off all week. He was front and center leading the chase on that miserable rainy day when Mancebo rode away from the field (as well as many other days when Astana needed to chase). And yet he still finished seventh place. I'm pretty impressed. You can say maybe not many of the other top talents were trying that hard, but he probably wasn't either. So will he be able to turn back time and win the Giro d'Talia? I'd say there's a good chance. He'll probably have the best team working for him and he's got that killer gene that most guys need to be the best. Still, all his time working on cancer awareness and his advancing age might be too much to overcome.

Also, if you've seen the photos of Armstrong's run in with a costumed fan you'll probably want to watch the video.


Sprinting for second place
Now, Mark Cavendish doesn't win every sprint. Just the ones where he's allowed to sprint at max speed without anyone in his way. Yes, finding an opening is a big part of sprinting but Killer Cav (or Cutie Cav as my girlfriend has been calling him) takes a lot of the uncertainty out of those crazy bunch sprints. Just ask him.

"With a flat run in like that there was only one possible outcome, especially when you've got a team like mine," said Cavendish. "When they dropped me off with 100 metres to go there could only be one outcome."

That was his view after winning stage four, which he himself said he thought he'd have no shot at due to the climbs before the finish. I think if he stays healthy he will be winning his first green jersey at the Tour de France this year. His team has become one of the best at setting him up for the finish and he just seems to have a gear that no one else can match right now. And I'm not sure whether HighRoad has a realistic shot at winning the yellow. Kim Kirchen is now out with an injury. Mick Rogers performed well in the Tour of California but I wonder if the allure of racking up a bunch of stage wings with Cav will be too strong for the team to really work for the overall jersey. The Tour of California cemented my view that this could be one of the best years in a while for cycling (unless we end up losing a bunch more guys to Puerto).