Pikes Peak Region Trail Finder

BY BRIAN GOMEZ, THE GAZETTE

Levi Leipheimer is the latest big name to commit to the USA Pro Cycling Challenge.

The three-time champion of the Tour of California will compete Aug. 22-28 in the seven-stage event that covers 508 miles across 11 Colorado cities, race chairman Shawn Hunter confirmed Thursday at USA Cycling’s headquarters after an 18-mile fun ride previewing the Colorado Springs prologue time trial was canceled because of thunderstorms.

A member of Team RadioShack, Leipheimer, 37, of Santa Rosa, Calif., has bypassed the Spanish Vuelta, a three-week grand tour starting Aug. 20, to join 135 riders representing 17 teams in the state’s first professional stage race in 23 years. He joins the entire podium of the Tour de France in Australian Cadel Evans and Luxembourg brothers Andy and Frank Schleck, along with key grabs in Italian Ivan Basso and Boulder resident Tom Danielson.

Hunter ruled out reigning Tour of California champion Chris Horner, who is recovering from a blood clot in his lung; Boulder resident Taylor Phinney, who will compete in the Vuelta; and Spaniard Alberto Contador, the reigning Giro d’Italia champion and a three-time Tour de France champion who has backed out of the Vuelta. All but two teams have submitted their rider lists, and the field will be officially unveiled Aug. 20 in the Springs.

“It’s another positive day for the race,” Hunter said about the addition of Leipheimer, a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist with two top-three finishes at the Vuelta and four top-10 showings at the Tour de France, where he recorded a 32nd-place finish last month. “Levi is obviously one of the best American riders. He’s one of the best personalities. It’s great for our sport. The fact that he’s here over the Vuelta is another positive statement.”

Hunter said the event is “going to be a treat for the Springs and all the communities that are participating. The same guys they watched a couple weeks ago in France are going to be racing through their communities. … We’ll always have lofty expectations because we feel like we owe that to the cycling community and we owe that to USA Cycling. But we are very pleased, and we feel very fortunate that they’re putting their trust in us.”