Levi Leipheimer: On the midnight plane to Girona

Levi Leipheimer finished second overall in the TdG, by a small margin of four seconds. But in cycling and against a team like Discovery Channel, four seconds might as well be four minutes. Leipheimer described his emotions in his final diary update from Georgia:

"Oh, just four seconds away from victory! It might have been six if it weren't for my sleek helmet and the lack of a ponytail. Don't you hate it when you have one of those Laurent Fignon days?

I was hoping that I could make up 4 seconds today, but the odds were against me. But overall I'm very pleased with the race. The race was fun, the fans were great, and I was pleased with my form. I have a few more races coming up, and then I'll take a break for a month before my final preparations for the Tour. My friend and training partner Marc Hagenlocher will be visiting next month so I hope to hit the Pyrenees with him and get a glimpse of some Tour stages.

The race offered a potpourri of weather. Sun, rain, hail, wind, and this morning, near freezing temps. Odds were that I wasn't going to be able to get the four seconds I need on a flat stage like this, so we sent Sven off the front in a break with Tafi. Since Sven wasn't a threat to Danielson's lead, we were hoping Discovery wouldn't chase. The break lasted a while, but the LPR boys spoiled Tafi's chances. It was a bit sad since I was hoping that Tafi's last race would be a victory in Georgia. He's a great champion.