Aliens racing in Tour de Georgia

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Georgia, April 19, 2005

Well, ok there were no aliens from Mars but it's difficult to write anything big in the wake of yesterday's news. The cycling world is changing, especially in the US. Lance to retire and Tyler being suspended. The first one is not such a shock but it's tough to imagine bike racing without Lance. The Tour de France will be an entirely different race in 2006. The second newsflash was truly shocking, to say the least.

It was a beautiful day for a bike race in Georgia. Clear skies, warm weather and the crowds were great. The racing on the other hand was slow. So slow that we all chatted, all day. I think maybe some of the teams are worried about the tough stages to come. I'm not sure but it was a good time to catch up with everyone in the peloton. Six hours of catching up to be exact. Everyone was surprised by Tyler's suspension of course - I guess you could say that was the main topic.

The race managed to pick up some speed for the sprints. Health Net led out all of the sprints so we would go fast for about a kilometre. Discovery went to the front for the final finishing circuits to keep Lance up front and out of trouble. It was good because it did string it out and keep it safe, and there was a brick climb on the circuits which made it tough. There's not much else to say really.

Levi Leipheimer shot to prominence when he made the podium at the 2001 Vuelta while riding for US Postal. He spent three years at Rabobank before joining the German Gerolsteiner team for 2005, where he is one of the team's main men for stage race general classifications. Leipheimer has twice finished in the top ten at the Tour de France, and this year will aim higher if his form allows. "We'll have to wait and see," he says. Follow Levi's progress to the Tour and beyond on Cyclingnews.