Tour de France: Levi Leipheimer wins stage 19
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Image: Mishmosh.
Levi Leipheimer of United States has won stage 19 of the 2007 Tour de France in a time of 1h 2' 44".
"I feel this is maybe the best day of my life," said Leipheimer. "It's my first Tour de France stage win and after this I think I deserve to stand on the podium in Paris."
Alberto Contador of Spain keeps the yellow jersey. He is now only 23 seconds ahead of Cadel Evans, who took second place in this 55.5 km individual time trial stage.
Leipheimer is in third overall, only 31 seconds behind Contador and 8 seconds behind Evans. When were the top three this close heading into the final stage? As close as it is, there will probably be no change at the top tomorrow.
"I've done all I could," said Evans. "I lost 55 seconds in the ascent of the Col de Peyresourde - that is where I lost the Tour," he added, recalling stage 15.
"I'm not going to attack Cadel on Sunday. He's a better sprinter anyway." said Leipheimer, who seems to enjoy that his team Discovery Channel Pro Cycling has almost certainly won, not only the yellow jersey for Contador, but also the team classification where they hold a massive advantage. "We've won this Tour and have two stage wins," he said.
Stage 19 result
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Levi Leipheimer | Discovery Channel | 1h 02' 44" |
| 2 | Cadel Evans | Predictor-Lotto | +51" |
| 3 | Vladimir Karpets | Caisse d'Epargne | +1' 56" |
| 4 | Yaroslav Popovych | Discovery Channel | +2' 01" |
| 5 | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel | +2' 18" |
| 6 | José Ivan Gutierrez | Caisse d'Epargne | +2' 27" |
| 7 | George Hincapie | Discovery Channel | +2' 33" |
| 8 | Oscar Pereiro Sio | Caisse d'Epargne | +2' 36" |
| 9 | Leif Hoste | Predictor-Lotto | +2' 48" |
| 10 | Mikel Astarloza | Euskaltel-Euskadi | +2' 50" |
General classification after stage 19
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team | 87h 09' 18" |
| 2 | Cadel Evans | Predictor-Lotto | +23" |
| 3 | Levi Leipheimer | Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team | +31" |
| 4 | Carlos Sastre | Team CSC | +7' 08" |
| 5 | Haimar Zubeldia | Euskaltel-Euskadi | +8' 17" |
| 6 | Alejandro Valverde | Caisse d'Epargne | +11' 37" |
| 7 | Kim Kirchen | T-Mobile Team | +12' 18" |
| 8 | Yaroslav Popovych | Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team | +12' 30" |
| 9 | Mikel Astarloza | Euskaltel-Euskadi | +14' 14" |
| 10 | Oscar Pereiro | Euskaltel-Euskadi | +14' 25" |
Sources
- "Contador keeps Tour rivals at bay" — BBC Sport, July 28, 2007
- John Sinnot. "Stage nineteen - as it happened" — BBC Sport, July 28, 2007
- "stage 19 - Cognac - Angoulême 55.5 km" — Tour de France, July 28, 2007
