Amgen Tour of California

State 8:  Santa Clarita to Thousand Oaks, 132.4km/82.3mi

After clearly dominating the Amgen Tour of California with the overall classification win on Sunday, Team RadioShack’s Chris Horner basks in the limelight of victory only briefly as he looks to future goals, namely a podium finish at this year’s Tour de France.  Horner, 39, a California resident, was not considered an early favorite by some, but the experience, determination and maturity of racing 16-years as a professional put him in the driver’s seat after an amazing stage win up Sierra Road on Wednesday’s stage 4.  With teammate Levi Leipheimer holding second place just behind him, Horner took the race leader’s jersey to wear it straight through to Thousand Oaks today. 

“I was nostalgic all day,” commented Chris Horner. “I was having a grin from ear-to-ear.   I’ve done so much training up here on these roads, maybe going back as far as 1991.  I’ve really built my career training here.  This Southern California area has been my stomping grounds.  As soon as they added the summit finishes this race really became a goal for me.  I want to say that the crowds throughout California and on the summit finishes were epic.”

The victory in the Tour of California is Horner’s 18th overall victory in a professional stage race. Projecting ahead to July, Horner looks for his good form in California to carry him to loftier heights in July.

“To be clear, it’s very simple with this team,” said Chris Horner when asked if he will be considered the team leader come July.  “It’s very easy in the Tour to figure out who’s good and who’s not good.  It’s a difficult transition at this period between the Tour of California and the Tour to come in at 100% form.  Levi and I will have to do everything perfectly between now and then to make that happen.  It’s a very small window and it’s a time that if you do something wrong it will affect your form for sure at the Tour.  Make no mistake, with RadioShack this team is 100% dedicated to the rider who will perform at the Tour de France.  I have no problem working for Levi and you see he has no problem working for me.  We have a fantastic Jani Brajkovic that could shine really bright at the Tour de France.  And of course there is Andres Klöden   I expect to be with four guys who have a little bit of freedom and we will have five guys who will look after the four of us.  It will become very clear after the first mountain stage who is the leader. At this team we get along very well and everyone is there to support the best rider.”

Taking the mountaintop stage win yesterday on Mt. Baldy and completing the race in second place overall, teammate and three-time winner at the Amgen Tour of California, Levi Leipheimer had only praise for the efforts of Horner and the entire Team RadioShack.   “He’s been around for 16 years but he’s been even more professional in the last couple of years, especially with his diet and just everything.  You’re seeing the results of that.   I’ve had some health issues and the team needed a Plan B.  That turned out to be Chris.”  Asked how he sees the Tour de France shaping up, Leipheimer continued with,

“That race puts you in your place.  We won’t have any responsibility at the Tour like we do here.  We have the responsibility to carry the Amgen Tour of California on our shoulders.  But at the Tour de France we don’t have that.  We’re the underdogs.  We don’t have an Andy Schleck or an Alberto Contador.    We can use that to our advantage.”

Strong teamwork was integral to ensure this week’s victory and both Chris Horner and Levi Leipheimer were the first to acknowledge the dedication of the six teammates riding in support of them.  “I’ve been on other teams that dominate like this in the past,” said race winner Horner.  “At a race of this size and of this quality, plus the pressure we’ve been put under to win, we wanted the win. This has been a fantastic week.  The RadioShack team has been unbelievable.  We have a great squad and we’re going to have a very, very, very good time Sunday night here in Los Angeles. What makes this victory so sweet is that it happened on the birthday of team director Alain Gallopin. In the period when I raced for La Française des Jeux, I lived in his house. We have a long history together, and I see no time in the near future that I plan on retiring, even if my racing age is 40 now. I believe there are at least five good years of racing left in my legs.  And I don’t think I’ll stop anytime soon after that but I probably won’t be racing so much in Europe.”

Final General Classification

1              Christopher Horner (USA) Team RadioShack       23:46:41                

2              Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team RadioShack               0:00:38  

3              Thomas Danielson (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo                0:02:45  

4              Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo        0:03:18  

5              Tejay Van Garderen (USA) HTC-Highroad             0:03:23  

6              Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team               0:03:26  

7              Rory Sutherland (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling       0:04:12  

8              Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek              0:04:33  

9              Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team                0:04:50  

15 Team RadioShack road victories in 2011

HORNER/Overall Classification Tour of California (22-5) - 7th stage Tour of California (21-5) - LEIPHEIMER / 4th stage Tour of California (18-5) - HORNER / 1st stage Giro del Trentino (19-4) - KLODEN /Overall Classification Tour of the Basque Country (9-4) - KLODEN / Overall Classification Tour of the Basque Country (9-4) - KLODEN / Overall Classification Three-Day-Race De Panne-Koksijde (31-3) - ROSSELER / 3rd stage b Three-Day-Race De Panne-Koksijde (31-3) - ROSSELER / 3rd stage Critérium International (27-3) - KLODEN/ 4th stage Volta a Catalunya (24-3) – CARDOSO / 5th stage Paris-Nice (10-3) - KLODEN / Overall Classification Three Days of West Flanders (6-3) - SERGENT / Prologue Three Days of West Flanders (4-3) - SERGENT / Overall Classification Ruta del Sol (24-2) - IRIZAR / Tour de Mumbai II (13-2) - HUNTER / Trofeo Inca (8-2) - HERMANS

5 Team Classification Wins in 2011

Three-Day-Race De Panne-Koksijde (31-3) / Tour of Catalunya (27-3) / Paris-Nice (13-3) / Three Days of West Flanders (6-3) / Ruta del Sol (24-2)

Photo courtesy of Will Swetnam