Stage 7, Pasadena, California - The Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team came and battled against the best pro cycling teams in the world and came away the victor in the coveted sprint jersey competition in the 2008 Amgen Tour of California. The team struggled into the day with 3 riders remaining but gathered some pre race inspiration from the Wounded Warriors (www.woundedwarriors.org) who came to visit the team with 15 Gulf War and Afghanistan veterans. The boys then gathered a quick game plan and Heath Blackgrove, Henk Vogels and Dominique Rollin saddled up and rode the final leg from Santa Clarita into the famed football grounds at the finish of the Rose Bowl.

There was nothing flowery about the day as the rains came early on the climb to 4800 feet and Henk Vogels couldn’t muster up the leg strength to finish the race and abandoned at about the 52 mile mark. Only 77 racers finished this race in a peloton that was decimated by stomach virus’ all week and worn down bodies fell all over from the original 135 riders. After the race, Vogels said about Rollin, “We knew the kid had serious talent, but he proved all week that he will be one of the major talents in the racing world for years to come.”
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I was at the KOM - I call it the “Cima Floyd” - for today’s stage. At 4900′ in altitude it is the highest point of this year’s Tour.

On the way up I snaped a pic of a couple of the soigneurs waiting at the feed zone.

I parked about 500 meters from the KOM and rode my Colnago up the rest of the way. Piece of cake! So long as you don’t have to ride from the bottom of the climb! I stationed myself at about 100 meters from the KOM line.

Here’s a view of the KOM finish line. and no, I don’t know who that person is.

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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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Photo by Ken Conley

PASADENA, CALIF., – After eight challenging days of cycling through 650-miles of scenic California highways, roadways and coastline drives, Levi Leipheimer (USA) of Astana was crowned as champion of the 2008 Amgen Tour of California for the second consecutive year, with a weeklong total time of 29 hours, 24 minutes and 32 seconds of cycling across California. A resident of Santa Rosa, Calif., Leipheimer battled against the best field ever assembled to compete in the United States, which included Olympic medalists and World Champions, among others. George Hincapie (USA) of High Road claimed the Stage 7 win.

Despite rainy weather on the race’s final day, fans turned out in record numbers to cheer on the cyclists throughout the week, bringing the overall total attendance for the duration of the race to more than 1.6 million.

“I think this win is more special now because of the caliber of the field,” said Leipheimer. “For me, this win is unbelievable because of the amount of cycling stars that we had here in California. Winning the Amgen Tour of California has been a goal of mine from the beginning. This has always been a top priority for me.”
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Levi Leipheimer (USA), General Classification Leader
Astana
On winning the 2008 Amgen Tour of California:
“I think this win is more special now because of the caliber of the field. The amount of stars that competed here is what makes this race so great. For me, this win is unbelievable because of the amount of cycling stars that we had here in California. The theme of this year’s race was the caliber of the peloton, so this win is really special for me. It’s not only a great race for me, but for the team as well because the competition was so good. You are only as good as the peloton, which was amazing this year, so it’s a really special win.”

“Winning the Amgen Tour of California has been a goal of mine from the beginning; no matter which races I compete in. This has always been a top priority for me. I’m happy to win here. I’m looking forward to going home and recovering and just enjoying my win.”

On his team:
“The team did a lot of work in this race. They were up front in horrific conditions for miles and miles, and hours and hours. They did very well, and I think we just proved that we are strong. We proved that Astana is one of the best teams in the world.”

On the difficulty of this year’s race:
“This year’s race was definitely the hardest of the three (Amgen Tour of California races), but to say it’s too difficult is not fair. The race has established itself as such an important race in the world of cycling; you can’t stunt its growth. You can’t try to make it easier just because it takes place in February (the start of the racing season). Because of the amount of stars in the peloton, it’s going to have to be a tough race. The weather certainly made it harder this year, but you can’t control that.”
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Attacking from the start of the 93-mile (150 km) stage, Creed played an instrumental role in a pair of breakaways that stayed clear of the peloton on a rain-soaked, bone-chilling ride from Santa Clarita to Pasadena. Aggressive to the end, Rock Racing nearly scored its second podium finish of the race when Creed attacked inside the final mile and finished fourth in a five-up sprint in front of the Rose Bowl.

“It was the last day and I didn’t want to end the week without having done anything,” Creed said. “At the very end, it was like throwing a ‘Hail Mary’ to try and pull out the win.”

In all, Rock Racing scored seven top 10 finishes during the race, including Mario Cipollini’s third place finish in Sacramento on Stage 2. Even more impressive was the fortitude of Rock Racing in an event that saw only 77 riders of 132 starters finish the 650-mile race.

Rock Racing was one of only three teams – and the only non-ProTour team to complete the race with its full squad. But unlike the CSC and Rabobank squads, Rock Racing began the race with only five riders (instead of eight) after race organizer AEG declared that three of its riders– American Tyler Hamilton, Colombian Santiago Botero and Oscar Sevilla – would not be able to start.
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Stage 7 Winners:
First Place - George Hincapie (USA), High Road
Second Place - Rory Sutherland (AUS), HealthNet Presented by Maxxis
Third Place - Jason McCartney (USA), Team CSC

Californian Travel & Tourism Commission King of the Mountains Jersey: Scott Nydam (USA), BMC Racing Team

Herbalife Sprint Leader Jersey: Dominique Rollin (CAN), Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team

Union Bank of California Best Young Rider Jersey: Robert Gesink (NED), Rabobank

Tachyon Most Aggressive Jersey: BMC Racing Team

Full results after the click…
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