Amgen Tour of California concludes with victory for California's Floyd Landis
With the finale of the eight-day Amgen Tour of California cycling road race continuing to draw fans in droves to Redondo Beach to total more than 1.3 million spectators for the week, California resident Floyd Landis of the Phonak Hearing Systems Team was crowned the overall winner of the first-annual event with a total time of 22.46?46?. Fellow Americans David Zabriskie and Bobby Julich, both of Team CSC, finished second and third, respectively.
For the second day in a row, T-Mobile Team?s Olaf Pollack (GER) won the stage, which consisted of 10 laps at
An early breakaway of four riders escaped on the first of ten laps. Davide Frattini (ITA) from Colavita Olive Oil ? Sutter Home, Aaron Olsen (USA) of Prodir-Saunier Duval, Scott Zwizanski (USA) of KodakGallery.com/Sierra Nevada Pro Cycling Team and Glen Chadwick (AUS) from Navigators Insurance Cycling Team gained an advantage of 2'
The gap grew to almost 8', the largest gap of any of the stages, with eight laps to go until Chris Horner (USA) of Davitamon-Lotto went to the front and began to single-handedly bring the group back. With the time gap allowed to the breakaway, Chadwick became the race leader on the road. Horner then brought his entire Davitamon-Lotto team to the front. Halfway through the race, the gap was reduced to 4'40".
With approximately three miles left in the race, Team CSC led the chase to bring back the four riders who had been at the head of the race for more than 70 of the stage?s
?As far as I can tell everything went perfect,? said Landis. ?I don?t know if this race would have been possible a few years ago. Obviously Lance brought a lot of fans to cycling, and hopefully we can keep them here.?
As part of the Breakaway from Cancer initiative, today Amgen announced a $1.1 million donation to The Wellness Community. The Wellness Community is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to providing support, education and hope for people affected by cancer, at no cost. The presentation was made in Redondo Beach, Calif., during closing ceremonies of the inaugural Amgen Tour of California.
Pollack?s win today gave him the final Clif Bar Sprint Jersey. Levi Leipheimer (USA) of Gerolsteiner had enough points following yesterday?s stage to take the California Travel and Tourism King of the Mountain Jersey. Despite a crash on the first lap, Tom Peterson (USA) of Team TIAA-CREF won the Union Bank Best Young Rider Jersey, and Chadwick?s active role in today?s race earned him the Adobe Most Aggressive Jersey.
For archived video footage and more, please visit the official race Web site at http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/.