Beijing Olympic Games

Levi Leipheimer wins cycling bronze for US

By TIM REYNOLDS, AP Sports Writer

BEIJING (AP)—Levi Leipheimer arrived for the Olympic cycling time trial feeling a bit of anger, which he decided to take out on a most unlikely source.

Himself.

Still smarting by the decision to exclude his Astana team from the Tour de France, the U.S. cyclist came to Beijing looking for an Olympic medal to be the highlight of his year—and delivered Wednesday, winning the bronze in the 29.2-mile men’s time trial after squeezing every drop of energy from his body over the latter stages of the race.

He practically collapsed at the finish line, knowing he was in second place at the time but also aware several contenders still had a chance to beat his effort. In the end, only one remaining finisher—gold medalist Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland—crossed the line faster than Leipheimer, who was positively thrilled to win Olympic bronze.

“It’s a lifelong dream just to be an Olympian,” Leipheimer said, after hanging on for a medal at the course which ended at the Great Wall. “And to win a medal, it’s just indescribable. I can’t tell you how proud I am.”

Give Kristin Armstrong a little bit of the credit.

Hours earlier, on the same course, Armstrong won the women’s time trial gold medal for the United States, and she dangled the new hardware for Leipheimer to see before he embarked on his medal-seeking ride.

“It’s amazing,” Armstrong told The Associated Press after watching Leipheimer win his medal. “Any time we can get a U.S. athlete on the podium, it just helps the sport in general and hopefully motivates others at home that they can do it as well. We’re role models for the sport of cycling, which is important in America, and it’s really special to have two of us on the podium. I can’t wait to celebrate with him tonight.”

Leipheimer might not have too much energy left for that party, but he said he owed Armstrong a debt of gratitude.

“To see her win definitely gave me morale,” Leipheimer said. “It was great to see. I know how hard she’s worked.”

He was in fourth place at most of the splits being charted by the U.S. team car during the race, and needed a huge effort over the second half of the race to pass the paces being set by the likes of Sweden’s Gustav Larsson, Spain’s Alberto Contador and Australia’s Cadel Evans and get into medal contention.

Somehow, he found a way, perhaps tapping into the training base he built in Utah when he should have been in the Tour, which barred Astana for past doping incidents that didn’t involve Leipheimer.

He crossed the line, slunk to the ground, and someone poured water on him to cool him down.

“I was honestly delirious,” Leipheimer said. “I knew I shouldn’t be sitting down on the ground but I just needed to stop for a second and collect my thoughts, catch my breath, get some water down. There were three or four of us really battling there for third place. It’s a big relief. It’s a great feeling.”

Contador didn’t pass his time. Nor did Evans. Nor did Germany’s Stefan Schumacher, the last man on the course with a chance to bump Leipheimer from the medal stand.

Bronze was his. The pain in his legs turned to joy.

“I told myself I had to suffer,” Leipheimer said. “I suffered. It paid off.”

And no matter what, 2008—Tour de France or no Tour de France—is now officially a success in Leipheimer’s book.

“You work your whole life, you sacrifice so much and you then have these fleeting moments of glory, you really have to appreciate it and take that mental photo and really save it,” Leipheimer said. “I’ve worked my whole life for this. And that feeling of standing up there on the podium, it’s indescribable. It’s a lifelong dream.”