ilsogno, of Sherman Oaks, CA is our fourth jersey winner for her report on Stage 6! Here it is straight from Cindy’s keyboard…

I parked at the intersection of Broadway Road and Hwy 23 (Grimes Canyon) near Moorpark, CA. Got my Colnago off the roof rack and rode the climb up to the summit of Grimes Cyn.

This is the climb that comes after Balcom Canyon and it is uncategorized. Uncategorized!?!? My computer read 4%-5% grades for the first mile or so and then 7%-8% for the rest of the climb. Jeez!

Found a spot about 500 meters from the top. Seems the riders were taking their time today and were running at their slowest expected time. The Toyota United fan support car came along and gave out road writing chalk to everybody so I passed the time writing out a gigantic “CIPO” on the road.

Here I am hard at work

Here I am posing with my masterpiece.

Then we see and hear the helicopters overhead. An official ToC pulls up with a loudspeaker going and lets us all in on the race progress. A small breakaway group seven minutes in front of the peloton.

Then we see them approach from off in the distance.

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Levi Leipheimer (USA), General Classification Leader and Stage 5 Winner
Astana
On today’s race:
“It was another great day for me here in Solvang. I’m just so happy and proud. I gave it my all today. Every time I had my doubts, I just told myself to do my best. The sign of a good time trial is that you don’t remember a lot of it, and I don’t remember a lot from today. Fortunately, I knew the course well, so I knew how to pace myself; I knew I had something left towards the end. With every kilometer, I was just yelling at myself to keep going. When I came to the last corner, I just hoped I didn’t crash since I was a little cross-eyed. This may be an even bigger win for me this year.”

“I gave 100 percent today. I didn’t hold back. I took the corners great, pushed myself in all the right places; the only fight I had to win was the one in my head.”

On wearing the Amgen Leader Jersey:
“I’ll try to defend this to the end since my team has done everything to put me in this place. They’ve been amazing all through the race, and yesterday, they were in front for nearly seven hours, so today I didn’t want to let them down.”

On how he felt before today’s time trial:
“To be honest, I was nervous. I’m not going to try and act like I’m a machine; I had my doubts. I just told myself to do my best. I knew it was going to be ugly, but I knew I’d fight. I wanted to show that we’re a fighting team and we’re not going to back down. I trained all winter for this. Astana has something to prove. We are the best team in the world and we need to be in the big races.”
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Photos by Stephanie Gutowski

Levi Leipheimer (USA), General Classification Leader
Astana

On today’s race:
“We knew that today was going to be important. I think this stage was the hardest stage in the three-year history of the Amgen Tour of California. It was a day with a few tough, but really beautiful, climbs. The Mt. Hamilton climb turned out to be really hard, and our team had something to prove today. I just didn’t want to let the guys down. Our morale is really good right now; we needed this win.”

On working with Robert Gesink to win:
“I think it worked out because I was conservative going over the top, but by the time I got to the finish, I had nothing left. I predicted yesterday that Gesink would be my ally today; he’s a huge talent and a star of the future. I’m glad he got the stage win, and thanks to our working together, I’m back in the Amgen Leader Jersey for the first time this race. I’m going to try to keep it until Pasadena, and with a team like Astana, I’m confident we can do this.”

On beating Cancellara and Millar, two of the world’s best time trialists, to the finish:
“To tell you the truth, I don’t know how Gesink and I stayed away. I was a little frustrated because I had been in that position before and I wasn’t really ready to commit everything yet. I was pulling through with the intention to make it, but I knew it was a long way. I was asking my team manager for information, and when I heard it was Cancellara and Millar, I thought there was no way we could make it, but the gap didn’t come down. Cancellara’s performance really surprised me today. It’s a great indication of how well he is performing right now.”

On the crowds during the race:
“In Modesto, and all throughout the race, even in the outback, the crowds again have been superb. I think they were suffering a lot on the Summit (Mt. Hamilton, where it was 38 degrees and foggy), so I want to thank them for encouraging me and all of the riders to do our best on a very tough stage.”

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Rabobank’s Robert Gesink Wins Stage 3 As Challenging Day Separates Riders and Shakes Up Remaining General Classification Leaders

Photo by Ken Conley

SAN JOSE, CA – After completing one of the most challenging and defining stages of the 2008 Amgen Tour of California, which included the brutal Mt. Hamilton (Hors Category) and Sierra Road (Cat. 1) climbs, cycling’s new generation shined again as 21-year-old Robert Gesink (NED) of Rabobank took the stage win. While Santa Rosa California resident Levi Leipheimer (USA) of Astana was outsprinted by Gesink for the stage win, the defending champion none-the-less gained the event’s overall lead. As the one of most difficult stages in the 2008 Amgen Tour of California, the 103-mile Stage 3 course from Modesto to San Jose featured 165 turns and two critical climbs that separated the pack.

“This win is really great for me because the field of riders is very competitive in the Amgen Tour of California,” said Gesink. “Today was a really big win for our team; we were strong as a team today.”

After struggling early on due to a stomach virus, Tyler Farrar (USA) of Slipstream Chipotle Presented by H30, who won the Amgen Leader Jersey the day before in Sacramento, abandoned the race after the second climb.

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Photo by Ken Conley

Stage 3 Results:
First Place - Robert Gesink (NED), Rabobank
Second Place - Levi Leipheimer (USA), Astana
Third Place - Jurgen Vandewalle (BEL), QuickStep

Overall Results (General Classification):
First Place - Levi Leipheimer (USA), Astana
Second Place - Fabian Cancellara (ARG), Team CSC
Third Place - Robert Gesink (NED), Rabobank

Stay tuned, full stage recap and photo galleries to come.