Here is the New York Times story about Stage 7 of the Tour of California, which was won by American Levi Leipheimer. The inaugural Tour of California (in 2006) was won by American Floyd Landis, who went on to win the Tour de France.

Addendum: I didn’t do very well in my predictions. I said that Tom Danielson would win the tour. He finished 66th, 11:31 behind his teammate Leipheimer. It was pretty clear from the start that his role was to help Leipheimer win. My second choice was Chris Horner, who finished 11th, 2:09 behind Leipheimer. Full results, together with a wrap-up and images, are here. I enjoyed watching the tour every day on Versus. I can’t wait until this year’s Tour de France.

Addendum 2: Big news from the cycling world. Jan Ullrich has announced his retirement from the sport. The New York Times story is in error in saying that Ullrich was runner-up five times to Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France. Ullrich did indeed finish second in the Tour five times, but only three of them were behind Armstrong. He finished second to Bjarne Riis in 1996 and to Marco Pantani in 1998. Ullrich won one Tour: in 1997. He was a great cyclist. Armstrong always said that Ullrich was the most talented rider in the peloton. I will always remember the great battles between the American and the German.