Honestly I can’t say I’m totally surprised that the federal investigation into Lance Armstrong has been dropped. The reason for my lack of surprise? The investigation seemed to be dragging on and on. The burden of proof is much higher in these types of cases and while it was rumored that some of Armstrong’s teammates gave it up apparently there was no concrete evidence. The Boulder Report’s Joe Lindsey reported that Armstrong’s ex-teammate Yaroslav Popyvych just replied “nyet” during his two-hour grand juror testimony.

Another more “conspiracy theory” thought is that the fix was in and someone higher up with pull closed this investigation down. Armstrong knows people in high places.

Armstrong, the brand and person, has built up a considerable amount of goodwill. We all know about the LiveStrong Foundation, but not many realized there was a for profit arm of LiveStrong. In fact, few realized that LiveStrong.org has stopped donating money to research at all – and a significant amount goes to marketing. And to be clear, there’s nothing illegal about it – just self serving.

During the Armstrong investigation Barry Bonds and the infamous BALCO case came and went. The final result was Bonds was placed under house arrest for 30 days. Not an encouraging sign for Food and Drug investigator Jeff Novitzky as he was also the central investigator into what could have been the biggest cycling scandal in modern times. All that time and effort and it amounted to an adult “time out” for the baseball player.

If the case had continued and Armstrong was found guilty of fraud, seven Tour de France titles were on the line of being stripped, forcing a complete rewrite of cycling history. And looking at who was on the lower steps of the podium during the Armstrong era, how far down the general classification would the ASO have to go to find a clean winner?

Tyler Hamilton stepped forward and confessed on 60 Minutes to organized doping within the Postal Service team. Yet, nothing happened. Armstrong had by now employed Mark Fabiani, a former White House special council and now professional spin doctor for high-end clients in a fix or companies that need a crisis clean-up. Fabiani railed against Hamilton, Floyd Landis and everyone who dared to throw stones at the Armstrong myth.

Then suddenly the Feds pulled the plug on the criminal investigation. Charles Pelkey said that Novitzky wasn’t made aware of that decision until 30 minutes before the press release. However, Travis Tygert, CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, issued a statement.

“Unlike the U.S. Attorney, USADA’s job is to protect clean sport rather than enforce specific criminal laws. Our investigation into doping in the sport of cycling is continuing and we look forward to obtaining the information developed during the federal investigation.”

A phone call and text message to Mr. Tygert asking about what USADA’s next move might be weren’t answered.

So what does this mean? The Feds were conducting a criminal investigation of Armstrong under the RICO act. USADA investigates for doping in sports. Two different things. While the Feds have a dossier of information it cannot be used by USADA and is sealed forever. If anything does get leaked the person who leaked it can go to jail.

However, as I was about to post this article John Fahey, the president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), issued a statement.

“A large amount of the evidence gathered is likely to be highly pertinent to doping and WADA expects that this evidence will be shared with relevant anti-doping authorities for them to determine whether any breaches of the anti-doping rules have occurred.”

My gut feeling is that this is posturing to save face. Sure WADA can ask for the evidence, but again, I’ve been told by a lawyer that the evidence is sealed.

So while Tygert says that his organization is continuing to investigate they are facing an uphill battle. USADA has limited funds and they don’t have the legal pull to compel anyone to say anything.

For Landis a couple of things can occur. Allegedly Landis has his own legal suit against Armstrong asking for damages. Think O.J. Simpson. The football player was found not guilty but taken to civil court by the Goldman family where the burden of proof is lower. Armstrong could possibly try to settle with Landis rather than go to court and see his ex-teammates subpenaed and forced to publicly testify. There’s no sealed grand jury to protect them. Or Landis could throw his hands up and walk away from this whole thing.

My personal take on the situation is that the Feds could no longer fight this battle due to political pressure. Releasing the statement late Friday, days before the Super Bowl, promised to push it to the back of the sport pages and by Super Bowl Sunday it’s a distant memory for 99.9% of the population. Also, Fabiani and his partner Chris Lehane worked in the White House and as @RaceRadio stated on Twitter, “worked daily with with Clinton’s lawyer Lanny Breur who is now head of the Fed’s criminal division.” That’s an interesting six-degrees of separation.

I also find it interesting that Armstrong has been deafeningly silent about the conclusion of the case on Twitter – his social media platform of choice when he wants to gloat about something. Did his team of lawyers get a hold of him and confiscate his iPhone to prevent him from saying something damaging?

Many of you have a firm opinion about Armstrong – he’s guilty as sin or he’s a persecuted man. I won’t try to convince you one way or the other. But this will continue and the Lance Armstrong legacy is still not in the clear.

During the winter months pro road cyclists can catch up on various projects (Rory Sutherland painting his house) or take care of some personal business (Tejay Van Garderen getting married). In the case of Mike Creed he decided that this was the time to try stand-up comedy.

Those who follow Creed on Twitter or Facebook are well aware of his comedic stylings. If not I’ve posted a few at the bottom – it’s up to you to decide if they’re delusional ramblings or entertaining thoughts.

“I’ve been working on it for a few weeks. I finally got the balls to do it,” explained the Kelly Benefits rider.

He took to the stage at the Zodiac bar on Monday’s open mic night – armed with only a few pages of notes and his courage fortified by a complimentary drink this fine establishment offers to all first time comedians (there’s also the use of the drum kit, however Creed has not incorporated that into his act so far). Alternatively leaning against the mic stand or taking a few steps around the stage, Creed delivered lines that had the crowd laughing. But be warned, Creed works “blue” so don’t think of booking him for your company Christmas party.

When asked about his next appearance he replied, “I’m building up for a show in a week.”

Will he take this comedy tour on the road as he travels from race to race?, “Maybe. But I imagine I’ll be too tired or confined to do that.”

It looks like this is going to be an abbreviated tour, so catch him when you can.

Photo: Jered Gruber

Like I mentioned in a previous post, the Giro d’ Italia people have embraced social media and have been posting fresh content on Twitter, blogs and web site. Just yesterday they unveiled a spectacular photo taken by Jered Gruber – a photojournalist who is based in Europe and like a gypsy, he and his wife have traveled the width and breath of Europe covering races.

The rider in the photo is Garmin-Cervelo rider Peter Stetina and is shot in the Dolomites. You’ll notice painted on the pavement is “W 108” – a memorial to Wouter Weylandt who was killed in a crash during stage 3 of the 2011 Giro. The 2012 edition of stage 3 will be dedicated to the Leopard-Trek rider and his race number (108) has been retired from the race.

On his personal site he is working on setting up his images for sale. Until that point you can see Gruber’s images in numerous publications and web sites. Here’s the link to the photo as you’ll want to make this your screensaver.

UPDATE

When I last spoke to Jered he was in the middle of traveling to Athens, Georgia so I wasn’t able to get the back story on his photo which is the official poster for the Giro d’ Italia. After he arrived he kindly carved out time to answer a couple of my questions about the shot.

The picture was taken at the end of May, right after the Giro, for the 2012 Castelli summer catalog. We drove up to the Dolomites for the day with Peter Stetina, who had just finished the Giro – his first ever Grand Tour.

We shot on the Fedaia, Giau, and Valparola that day, but the best shot happened relatively early on – at the top of the Giau.

I am a huge fan of panoramas. Some photographers see things in close-up fashion, telephoto, if you will. I’ve realized that I see everything really wide, and while I have a really wide lens, nothing is wider than multiple shots stitched together with that wide lens.

The image is three shots with a Nikon D700 and a 14-24 lens shot at f/8, 1/500 sec, I think.

I tried many, many more shots similar to that this year, but nothing ever succeeded like that one. It was special.

As some people on Twitter mentioned, Gruber wasn’t compensated for the photo which will grace magazines, posters, media books and other publicity pieces. To put it in perspective, typically a photo like that, with the world wide use it will garner, is worth about 3,000 euros. At this point I won’t get into how his photo was poached by the RCS as ultimately that would do more damage to Gruber than good. Hopefully RCS will recognize the worth of the image and Jered will be rewarded with the use of a daily moto during the 2012 Giro and dibs on the good sandwiches in the press room.

Jered is setting up a gallery where you can purchase his photos. If you can’t wait until then, contact him at jeredgruber@gmail.com or check out his site www.jeredgruber.com. Also, let this be a lesson to everyone out there in the creative business who give away their work for free on the promise of “publicity” – it is never a fair exchange. I leave you with a video from freelance writer Harlan Ellison discussing how Warner Brothers wanted to use his essay for free. While he is talking about writers, this applies to photographers as well.

@neilroad hates failwhales...

Twitter is where I often go to spout off on a number of subjects. Sometimes those 140 character posts are jump off points for other conversations. For those who are not on Twitter or may just pop in occasionally, here are some highlights from the past week.

@neilroad: Looking at photos from CN’s report on Tour of Beijing I don’t see any spectators? http://bit.ly/oKSsZq

@neilroad: OK…stand corrected. Maybe these images were just added but there are spectators at Beijing finish line http://bit.ly/pio2n7

I got some responses from people actually watching the race in person and they reported that the crowds were in fact sparse. The Chinese police were a little concerned about large public gatherings. I wonder if the Chinese officials realized that watching a bike race required a large gathering? Turns out that bike racing is not an approved Chairman Mao activity.

@neilroad: Trying to read CN story that says UCI deny threatening teams but a 404 error. Has Aigle launched cyber attack? http://yfrog.com/nxo5tpbj

I’ve been reading post-race reports and watching video clips from the Tour of Beijing. Let’s forget for a moment the mutual hand jobs that the race organizer and the UCI have given to each other to make this race happen. From threatening emails sent to team sponsors to how a sport’s governing body has stepped into a role of race promoter – this all stinks to high heaven like the back alley of a Beijing restaurant. Then another bomb dropped which again showed the shadiness of cycling’s governing body.

@neilroad: Wow! Sometimes you think the UCI can’t do anything stupider & then this cock-up. Cycling needs new leadership from top to bottom http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/uci-performed-no-blood-tests-during-amgen-tour-of-california

Hold on! Stop the presses! The UCI didn’t conduct the blood testing like they said they would at the Amgen Tour of California. Also there were no blood testing at Tour of Utah and the Colorado Pro Challenge Stage Race Whatever the Hell They Want To Name It Race? What more can I say that hasn’t already been said numerous times – Pat McQuaid and his cronies need to be removed.

But the best tweets of the week have come from my mom who is visiting from England. Here’s a sample which will undoubtedly grow during her four week stay.

My mom:”what you write can be seen around the world? Me: Yes, on the internet. Mom: “oh, that’s lovely. #shitmymomsays

@neilroad: Spent AM trying to explain why not good idea to walk around w/$100s in cash. “I’ve never been robbed except 1 time in Spain” #shitmymomsays

@neilroad: British people say “nachos” funny. #shitmymomsays

Another Twitter personality, Austin Carroll is going to be on our TourChats show this Sunday. You can tell he is excited:

@AustinCarroll: I am going to be on @TourChats this Sunday!!! More info soon!!!

Another guest will be US women’s TT champ Evelyn Stevens. She’s not on Twitter yet…

“I do not have any official announcement about a team for next year. Just wanted to clear that up. We cool?” – Levi Leipheimer

While Levi is coy on the subject, several news sources are already claiming that the RadioShack rider will transfer to the Belgian squad Omega Pharma-Quick Step in 2012. The newly merged team has already hired HTC-Highroad’s DS Brian Holm for 2012 and he wasted no time blabbing to Sporten.dk about the transfer.

“Leipheimer has had one of his best seasons with a second place finish in the Tour of California, an overall victory in the Tour de Suisse and a first place in the U.S. Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado. He seems like a very likeable rider.”

On the surface this seems like an odd transfer, but as pointed out online, Leipheimer’s valuable World Tour points from his very successful 2011 campaign make him very “likable” for Omega Pharma-Quick Step. The Belgian squad desperately needs those points to stay in the World Tour game. Unfortunately, if we look at Levi’s wins this season, other than the Tour de Suisse, his victories have been domestic. And let’s face it – Leipheimer isn’t a grand tour contender anymore. That said, he is a strong challenger for any of America’s grand tours (Tour of California, Utah, Colorado). So why sign for a team that hasn’t crossed the Atlantic? Here’s where I put on my tin foil hat and make some suppositions.

As we all know, Leipheimer is a California resident and made a brief cameo in the Golden State’s television tourism campaign. Specialized is a California company. When Levi was a member of Gerolsteiner back in the day, he rode a Tarmac and was quite cozy with big “S”. How crazy would it be for Specialized to return to Quick Step as a bike sponsor and as a result bring a squad to contest America’s biggest races? It’s a win-win! Pharma-Quick Step gets the World Tour points and Leipheimer is given full reign on America’s soil to crush! You add some Specialized money into the mix to help off-set both Leipheimer’s and Tony Martin’s salary and boom – you’ve got Tarmacs and Shivs sitting pretty on the podium.

As I write Eurobike is in full swing followed in a couple of weeks by Interbike. I predict at one of these industry shows the cat will be let out of the bag. Drinks on me at Cross Vegas if I’m wrong.

A win that no one predicted could happen – Levi Leipheimer overtook race leader Damiano Cunego in the time trial taking the overall title in the Tour de Suisse. The RadioShack rider had a consistent race and when it mattered, he was in the right place at the right time. Now with a victory in a national tour just a couple of weeks before the Tour de France, Leipheimer can be seen as a legitimate favorite for a podium position. Leipheimer wasn’t the only RadioShack rider to break the top 10. Andreas Klöden was second and Nelson Oliveira was fourth for the Shack. Quite the ride for the team.

At the ripe old age of 37 Leipheimer showed that his build-up to the Tour is right on schedule. While not a winner at the Amgen Tour of California, his performance shepherding Chris Horner up Mt Baldy was impressive – riding Andy Schleck off their wheels.

Among the congratulations to Leipheimer and the RadioShack team, there was a vocal chorus of people who didn’t quite show the same enthusiasm.

“I honestly think that @radioshack would be better off asking their riders not to win anymore races. It’s bad PR when everyone suspects you.”

“No middle ground on Leipheimer’s #TdSuisse win. People are either psyched or pissed off. #thanksjohan”

“Judging by my Twitter feed a few #tdsuisse viewers suspect Levi dopes. #captainobvious”

You get my point…

The distrust, obviously, comes from the investigation into Lance Armstrong, and by association, anyone who has ridden for him. Tyler Hamilton in his 60 Minutes interview even said that doping was occurring on the US Postal team before Armstrong. For Leipheimer the distrust goes back to his Gerolsteiner days.

Leipheimer is accused by his Gerolsteiner director Hans-Michael Holczer, in his book “Garantiert Positiv” (Guaranteed Positive), of having suspect blood values during the 2005 Tour de France that were consistent with blood doping. Leipheimer hasn’t been sanctioned for doping as a professional, but was positive for ephedrine at the amateur U.S. National Criterium Championships in 1996. Leipheimer said he ingested the banned substance from a cold medicine. Regardless, he had to return his national championship jersey.

To be honest I don’t know where to weigh in on this subject. I want to believe that Leipheimer’s overall win was due to hard work and a strong squad. But the shadow of the ongoing investigation into Armstrong is long and covers riders who may be entirely innocent of any wrong doing. Perhaps Leipheimer is collateral damage in the battle against doping? I hate to think that every victory by RadioShack is tainted as I’ll root for Horner in the Tour. However, in the realm of public opinion it seems, as always with Armstrong/RadioShack, is split down the middle.

I got to give huge props to Chris Horner. The RadioShack rider took a convincing win at the 2011 Amgen Tour of California, showing he was a man on fine form. In a display of power on the steep slopes of Mt Baldy he and his Shack teammates dropped all contenders including favorite Andy Schleck.

In the post race press conference he said other than Alberto Contador, no one could out climb him. He even said he was aiming for top five at the Tour de France. At the age of 39 most riders would have ridden into the sunset, but Horner went on to say that he was planning to race in Europe for five more years and then return to the States and compete for another five years! Sure, that might have been a bit of post-race adrenaline still flowing through his veins, but I don’t think that’s out of reach for the San Diego resident.

In order to accomplish his top-five Tour goal he was going to skip the US Pro weekend in Greenville and instead see his kids in Bend, Oregon, take care of a sponsorship obligation and then race the Tour de Suisse. Sounds like a good plan – eliminate all the unnecessary travel and keep his eyes on the prize. As RadioShack director Bruyneel stated, they have no single GC favorite and Horner, along with Kloden and Brajkovic, will be their protected riders. Now is the time for Chris to make his mark on the one race that Americans value the most.

However Velonews.com is reporting that Horner is skipping the Tour de Suisse and staying home in San Diego.

“The team has faith that I can come into the race good,” Horner told Neal Rogers. “It’s what I wanted, to rest more, to train good, to be home all that time and head straight over right before the Tour. I’m very happy. It’s what I wanted.”

It’s no secret that Horner looked super lean in California and has adopted a strict diet, which paid off. But still – missing the Tour de Suisse? That’s a gamble.

The Swiss national tour, as well as the ongoing Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, is considered a “tune-up” for the Tour de France to a point that several riders were quoted as saying they were using the eight-day race as training. A quick look at past results from Tour de Suisse include Frank Schleck winning the 2010 edition with Armstrong finishing in third. Past winners are Cancellara, Kreuziger, Karpets, and Ullrich.

The Dauphiné’s past winners include Brajkovic, Valverde (twice), Moreau, and Leipheimer. Interestingly Tyler Hamilton won in 2000. Lance Armstrong won back to back in 2002 and 2003, and went on to win the Tour de France in both those years.

History has shown that past winners of the Tour have raced in one of these events – a successful template for this year’s contenders. Racing is usually part of the training component. Even someone like Armstrong, who showed that he hyper-focused on training and didn’t need a lot or racing, lined up in these tune-up stage races.

In this case I think Horner is making the right decision to skip Tour de Suisse. Horner is beyond veteran status and has shown that he has the discipline to train, so he doesn’t need a race to fine tune his fitness for the Tour. Sure, younger riders need the discipline and guidance of a stage race to keep them on track for the Grand Boucle.

So I tip my hat to Chris Horner and wish him well this July. But I’m curious, am I way off base with this? Is racing necessary for a build up to the Tour de France? I guess we’ll have to wait a few more weeks.

Floyd Landis, Tyler Hamilton and now George Hincapie. All of these riders worked directly with Lance Armstrong. The first two on my list admitted that they had taken performance enhancing drugs and accused Armstrong of the same. Yesterday, CBS reported that Hincapie had spoken to the grand jury and had implicated himself and Armstrong in this growing doping scandal. Hincapie replied via Twitter saying, “I can confirm to you that I have never spoke to 60 Minutes. I have no idea where they got their information.” He continued in another Twitter post, “As I’ve said in the past, I continue to be disappointed that people are talking about the past in cycling instead of the future.”

This non-denial, denial was a poorly a devised strategy that is doomed for failure. We all want to look to the future of cycling. The Amgen Tour of California has shown that riders like Andrew Talansky are truly the future of the sport. However, we can’t have the history of cycling propped up on lies. Hincapie’s statements don’t ring true with the reality that is now forming. It will be painful, but finally liberating when the truth is told.

Dooms day prophets have said that today was the end of the world. I disagree – today is the beginning of a new world for cycling. I’m not naïve to think it will be a clean sporting world, we’ll always have cheats. However, now is the time to start anew.

As a Greenville resident I know this news of George will rock the community. A friend texted me a photo of today’s Greenville News, “Report: Hincapie tells of doping.” Yes, this news about one of cycling fans’ heroes is a punch to the gut, but cycling will survive. I will still cheer great performances and pick my favorite for the day.

For cyclists every time they clip into their pedals and roll off the start line there is an implied danger that they all face. Crashes are commonplace but a death in the peloton is, thankfully, rare. Tragically a racer was lost during today’s stage of the Giro d’Italia.

Today was a day that knocks the wind out of us like a punch to the gut. On the descent of the Passo del Bocco, Wouter Weylandt (Leopard-Trek) crashed and lost consciousness. Within an hour of the stage’s conclusion it was reported that he died from injuries sustained in the crash. He was 26 and leaves behind a pregnant girlfriend.

The Belgian rider had a slow start to his professional career, but it was one on the rise. He’d won a stage in the 2008 Vuelta a Espana. In 2009 he rode in support of teammate Tom Boonen as he chased glory in the spring classics.
It was last year in stage 3 of the 2010 Giro that he last won a stage of a Grand Tour and cruelly it was stage 3 that claimed his life.

The day’s results in Italy became meaningless. How can you compare the victory of a bike race to a human life? You can’t.
At the time of this column the Leopard-Trek team was deciding if they would continue with the Giro.

It’s events like this can change your perspective. Here was a young man who was a member of the most prestigious team in professional cycling killed while racing his bike. It just doesn’t seem fair. Picking up the newspaper you occasionally read about a recreational cyclist that has been killed in an accident. Again, it just doesn’t seem fair.

I have written about cycling from all angles: doping, race reports, interviews and opinion pieces, but nothing makes you stop and think about what is important than death. It changes your perspective.

Perspective doesn’t only have to come from death. The day of the Athens Twilight race in Georgia I tagged along with the UnitedHealthcare professional racing team as they visited the pediatrics unit of the Athens Regional Hospital. Seeing the children, some just babies, with IVs in their arms gives you pause. You can’t help but be touched and left with some perspective on how valuable and precious life is. It’s a gut-check and I know the riders who visited the children felt the same. For the patients it was a moment’s distraction when the cyclists visited – but a valuable moment.

Today go out and do what you love to do – ride a bike, run in the park, walk in hills – whatever. Just do something that you enjoy. Do it with vigor and passion as champions like Wouter Weylandt do on race day.

May 28th and 30th is when the best (or maybe those who are available and in the country) head to Greenville, South Carolina to compete for a national championship jersey in the time trial and road race. Last year the championships were held in September and the time trial was Saturday followed on Sunday by the road race. This year the script has been flipped – the battle for the Stars and Stripes is in Spring and in sync with when the Europeans contest their national championships. Also, there is a day between each event giving the riders an opportunity to recover. One benefit to the day of rest has been the increase in riders registered for the time trial.

Last year there were only 15 racers rolling down the ramp at the Clemson ICAR campus. Some noticeable absentees were three-time champion David Zabriskie. Also not lining up was Tom Zirbel. He finished second in the 2009 event and fourth in the time trial world championships of the same year. However he was found positive forDHEA and suspended for two years, which saw him out of the running for 2010. Zirbel maintained his innocence and it has been widely thought the positive result came from a contaminated supplement. However, due to his cooperation in a doping case not related to his own, his sentence was reduced to 18 months and he has now signed a contract with the Jamis/Sutter Home team. But that’s all in the past and the 2011 championships are only weeks away.

I received the tentative starting list of who is going to roll down the starting ramp from Medalist Sports and the usual suspects are there: Levi Leipheimer and Taylor Phinney, but so is a returning favorite – David Zabriskie. Also on the list is BMC’s Brent Bookwalter. Even the reigning road race national champion Ben King is going to give it a try. Leipheimer and King aren’t the only RadioShack riders, Chris Horner is also penciled in.

I asked Chris Aronhalt, the managing partner of Medalist Sports, about the possible inclusion of a late sign up like Zirbel. According to Aronhalt it is still possible for him to register for the time trial, an event that is considered his specialty. It only costs $40 and I’m sure that’s within the Jamis/Sutter Home budget.

In total there are 27 riders chasing the dream of a national champion jersey. Realistically it is going to come down to just a few: Leipheimer, Zabriskie, Phinney, and if he signs up, Zirbel. Outsiders include Brent Bookwalter, Andy Jacques-Maynes and Matt Busche.

While there are 27 riders signed up this doesn’t mean they will all decide to race – and that’s the frustration for Aronhalt. He would like to see marquee riders like Horner compete, but there’s a chance that the RadioShacker might call an audible and decide to save his bullets for the road race.

In the road race there aren’t any surprises. Greenville’s own, George Hincapie, will be trying to take the national championship jersey from King. Other than a Roubaix cobblestone trophy, I’m guessing winning a national championship jersey is a major goal for the BMC rider.

Of course there’s Leipheimer. He has won on this course before and he’ll have the backing of Horner and Busche. But here’s an interesting hypothetical – will the Shackers focus on one leader or will they do the “we’ll let the road decide who is the strongest” strategy? Ben King won last year’s edition through a combination of strength, but also a good portion of luck. No one thought that early break would stay away and then when it got serious the teams all looked at BMC to chase it back. No way is that scenario going to occur again, so the question remains – who does Shack work for? King is not going to be allowed that amount of slack again. I’d love to be a fly on the wall for that team meeting.

My money is on Hincapie to have a strong showing. He’ll have returned from the Amgen Tour of California (like most of the peloton) primed and the US Pro course is literally in his backyard. Another favorite is Chris Horner. He’s another old-timer that keeps improving with age. Naturally, you have to include Leipheimer as a potential for the jersey.

Regardless I’m hoping for a good race and you can follow my commentary in the Official US Pro Road Race Live Chat we’ll be producing as Carolina Cycling News. More details coming soon. Until then, I’ll keep my ear to the ground during the Tour of California.

Below is the tentative list for both events – some riders will be added and others removed. Case in point, Chris Butler announced today that he’ll be racing in the Giro which starts this Saturday and ends the weekend of the championships, so obviously he’s out.

Time Trial
Andrew Baker UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team
Christopher Baldwin UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team
Brent Bookwalter UCI PT: BMC Racing Team
Gregg Brandt UCI CT: Kenda/5-hour Energy Pro Cycling p/b Geargrinder
Matthew Busche UCI PT: Team RadioShack
Michael Creed UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies
Alfredo Cruz UCI CT: Chipotle Development Team
Michael Friedman UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies
Phillip Gaimon UCI CT: KENDA Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER
Christopher Horner UCI PT: Team RadioShack
Andy Jacques-Maynes UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team
Benjamin Jacques-Maynes UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team
Roman Kilun UCI CT: KENDA Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER
Benjamin King UCI PT: Team RadioShack
Julian Kyer UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies
Levi Leipheimer UCI PT: Team RadioShack
Paul Mach UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team
Jason McCartney UCI PT: Team RadioShack
Jonathan Mumford UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies
Taylor Phinney UCI PT: BMC Racing Team
Chase Pinkham UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team
K Frank Pipp UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team
Jacob Rytlewski UCI CT: KENDA Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER
Daniel Summerhill UCI CT: Chipotle Development Team
Robert Sweeting UCI CT: KENDA Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER
David Williams UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team
David Zabriskie UCI CT: Garmin-Cervelo

Road Race
Jesse Anthony UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies
Kai Applequist UCI CT: Team Exergy
Andrew Bajadali UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies
Andrew Baker UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team
Christopher Baldwin UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team
Eric Barlevav UCI CT: Team Exergy
Chad Beyer UCI PT: BMC Racing Team
Brent Bookwalter UCI PT: BMC Racing Team
Alex Bowden UCI PCT: Team Type 1
Daniel Bowman UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies
Gregg Brandt UCI CT: Kenda/5-hour Energy Pro Cycling p/b Geargrinder
Matthew Busche UCI PT: Team RadioShack
Robert Bush UCI CT: Chipotle Development Team
Christopher Butler UCI PT: BMC Racing Team
Alexander Candelario UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies
Kirk Carlsen
Cameron Cogburn UCI CT: Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda
Matthew Cooke UCI CT: Team Exergy
Michael Creed UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies
Alfredo Cruz UCI CT: Chipotle Development Team
Andrew Dahlheim UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team
Jason Donald UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies
James Driscoll UCI CT: Jamis/Sutter Home
William Dugan UCI PCT: Team Type 1
Caleb Fairly UCI PT: Team HTC Highroad
Nicolas Frey UCI CT: Jamis/Sutter Home
Michael Friedman UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies
Spencer Gaddy UCI CT: KENDA Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER
Phillip Gaimon UCI CT: KENDA Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER
Andrew Guptill UCI CT: Jamis/Sutter Home
Alexander Hagman UCI CT: Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda
Kenneth Hanson UCI CT: Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda
Chad Hartley UCI CT: KENDA Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER
Sergio Hernandez UCI CT: Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda
George Hincapie UCI PT: BMC Racing Team
Daniel Holloway UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies
Christopher Hong UCI CT: Team Exergy
Christopher Horner UCI PT: Team RadioShack
Alex Howes UCI CT: Chipotle Development Team
Charles Huff UCI CT: Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda
Andy Jacques-Maynes UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team
Benjamin Jacques-Maynes UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team
Sam Johnson UCI CT: Team Exergy
Quinn Keogh UCI CT: Team Exergy
Roman Kilun UCI CT: KENDA Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER
Benjamin King UCI PT: Team RadioShack
Julian Kyer UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies
Levi Leipheimer UCI PT: Team RadioShack
Patrick Lemieux UCI CT: KENDA Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER
Jeff Louder UCI PT: BMC Racing Team
Paul Mach UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team
Sean Mazich UCI CT: Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda
Jason McCartney UCI PT: Team RadioShack
Remi McManus UCI CT: Team Exergy
Carson Miller UCI CT: Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda
Shawn Milne UCI CT: KENDA Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER
Christopher Monteleone UCI CT: KENDA Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER
Jonathan Mumford UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies
Emerson Oronte UCI CT: Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda
Taylor Phinney UCI PT: BMC Racing Team
Chase Pinkham UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team
K Frank Pipp UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team
Jeremy Powers UCI CT: Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda
Thacker Reeves UCI CT: Chipotle Development Team
Kiel Reijnen UCI PCT: Team Type 1
Jacob Rytlewski UCI CT: KENDA Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER
Michael Sherer UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies
Erik Slack UCI CT: Team Exergy
Thomas Soladay UCI CT: Kelly Benefit Strategies
James Stemper UCI CT: KENDA Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER
Scott Stewart UCI PCT: Team Type 1
Daniel Summerhill UCI CT: Chipotle Development Team
Jonathan Sundt UCI CT: Kenda/5-hour Energy Pro Cycling p/b Geargrinder
Robert Sweeting UCI CT: KENDA Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER
Bernard Van Ulden UCI CT: Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda
Kyle Wamsley UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team
Scottie Weiss UCI CT: KENDA Pro Cycling presented by GEARGRINDER
David Williams UCI CT: Bissell Pro Cycling Team
Tyler Wren UCI CT: Jamis/Sutter Home
Tyler Farrar UCI CT: Garmin-Cervelo
Andrew Talansky UCI CT: Garmin-Cervelo
David Zabriskie UCI CT: Garmin-Cervelo
Tom Danielson UCI CT: Garmin-Cervelo