LOS ANGELES May 22, 2010 – Enthusiastic fans lined up along the streets of downtown Los Angeles to welcome world-class cyclists from 16 professional teams for Stage 7 of the Amgen Tour of California, which consisted of two laps around a 10.5-mile course for the individual time trial.
After completing the longest day of the race yesterday, the riders were faced with a course that was filled with several of the city’s most recognizable landmarks, including Walt Disney Concert Hall, the University of Southern California, the LA Coliseum and STAPLES Center. In a race against the clock, Tony Martin (GBR) of HTC-Columbia emerged victorious with a time of 41 minutes and 41 seconds. Finishing in second place, three-time individual time trial world champion Michael Rogers (AUS) also of HTC-Columbia, will retain the Amgen Leader Jersey heading into the final stage of the race.
Moving into second place was five-time and current U.S. National Time Trial Champion David Zabriskie (USA) of Garmin-Transitions. And the most anticipated rider of the day, three-time defending champion Levi Leipheimer (USA) of Team RadioShack came in fourth today with a time of 42 minutes and 14 seconds, which put him in third place overall going into tomorrow’s stage.