Levi Leipheimer is back in first place at the 2011 USA Pro Cycling Challenge after a brief departure from the top spot at the end of stage two. Leipheimer won the Stage 3 individual time trial at Vail in 25:47. Garmin-Cervelo's Christian VandeVelde finished with the same time as Leipheimer. Now they are Nos. 1 and 2 in the standings, separated by 11 seconds.
The previous No. 1, Tejay Van Garderen, is now No. 3. Boulder resident Tom Danielson dropped to fourth overall, but he actually shaved one second off the gap in front of him.
Stage 4 begins in Avon and ends 83 miles later in Steamboat Springs. This stage is not like Stage 2's ride through from Gunnison to Aspen. While there are no high peaks, Stage 4 does have rolling hills and a long stretch of the race does take place above 7,500 feet. The sprinters will like this stage. Live coverage of the race begins on Versus at 2:00 p.m. MT.
Here is the top 10 in the general classification (complete leaderboard here):
Pos | Rider | Time | Gap |
1 | Levi Leipheimer | 10:30:29 | -- |
2 | Christian VandeVelde | 10:30:40 | :11 |
3 | Tejay Van Garderen | 10:30:46 | :17 |
4 | Tom Danielson | 10:30:50 | :21 |
5 | George Hincapie | 10:31:22 | :53 |
6 | Rafael Infantio Abreu | 10:31:43 | 1:14 |
7 | Cadel Evans | 10:31:47 | 1:18 |
8 | Stef Clement | 10:32:11 | 1:42 |
9 | Bruno Pires | 10:32:18 | 1:49 |
10 | Rory Sutherland | 10:32:19 | 1:50 |
Stick with this StoryStream for more on the 2011 USA Pro Cycling Challenge.