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For most of the day it looked like a total Cinderella story for unknown Jason Donald, but when the very last rider of the 2007 Tour of California (TOC) prologue crossed the finish line Sunday, it was Levi Leipheimer who had tears in his eyes.
A Credit Agricole rider suffers his way up the last 300 meters to the finish line atop Telegraph Hill. Photo from SF_Chris.
Following a ribbon-cutting ceremony and the national anthem, Jean-Marc Marino of team Credit Agricole rolled down the starting chute at 1:00 p.m. sharp and the prologue was on. In a time trial like Sunday's prologue, riders race alone and against the clock rather than against each other en masse. Following Marino, 144 more riders attacked the course at one-minute intervals for the next two hours.
Taking advantage of windless conditions, early riders Donald and Ben Jacques-Maynes put up some blistering sub-5:00 minute times. As it was last year, the 5:00 mark was the Mendoza line separating the men from the boys.
The rest of the day, nobody came within five seconds of Donald, and with a nasty crosswind picking up on the Embarcadero, it seemed unlikely that anybody could beat Mother Nature and Donald. But Leipheimer was not to be denied.
As he hit the final 500 meters with a very fast time, a jolt went through the crowd lining the finishing chute under Coit Tower, and everybody knew Levi was going to do it. Sure enough, Leipheimer appeared around the final corner, about 100 meters down course from the finish line, at the 4:40 mark. The crowd was ecstatic. The MC was screaming that he was going to make it. Leipheimer was pushing with superhuman effort. And with the James Bond 007 theme blaring in the loudspeakers, in a moment of sublime community, Levi, the fans, and all of racing was one as he burst across the line in a stirringly triumphant 4:48:86.
Said Leipheimer later of his effort, "it hurt . . . I thought I was going to make myself throw up, but I did OK." Yeah, he did OK. He pulverized his own record time from last year by four seconds. This is Levi's second consecutive TOC prologue win; he is the only rider ever to have won the TOC prologue. And like last year, this means that he will wear the leader's jersey into his hometown of Santa Rosa for the finish of today's Stage 1. It also means he is currently the overall tour leader.
Time trial events aren't big on sprint finishes and group dynamics, but they are great for spectators because riders whir by in a steady stream for more than two hours instead of one huge pelotonic blur.
Lined along the course three deep from the Embarcadero to Stockton Street to the finish line at Coit Tower, prologue spectators celebrated each rider with a cacophony of whistles, cowbells, and thunderstix that rippled up the course route like the wave at a 1989 Raiders game. Creating a wild cheering doppler effect, the noise grew louder and closer as riders approached, reached a crescendo as they zoomed past, and faded into the distance as they hammered forward on the course.
Leipheimer credited the crowds, estimated at 300,000, with helping lift him to the win. No doubt about that. The crowds were a huge part of the scene, man.
Crowd apparel was a sideshow in itself. In addition to a rainbow of jerseys, many folks were sporting ultracool old-school faux Italian wool sweater jerseys. One guy had a t-shirt that read, "I want to buy your dope ass steel road bike". That's what we're taking 'bout!
The Team Discovery Channel pit area was a popular place on Sunday. Photo from SF_Chris.
Before the race, Justin Herman Plaza down at the Ferry Building was abuzz. Thousands of people milled around the "rolling festival" of vendor tents checking out the latest in cycling technology and picking up stickers, posters, and other industry schwag. Along the starting chute, the privileged frolicked in exclusive hospitality tents. European teams and fans added to the continental feel of the event.
By far the biggest prerace crowds were concentrated in the team pit areas, in particular the Team Discovery Channel pits, where new signee Ivan Basso was attracting the most attention.
In fact, the prerace pits may have been the best part of a great race. Even though the TOC is a big-time international sporting event of huge magnitude, regular fans can still literally rub shoulders with the riders and team members in the prerace pit areas. In fact, to get to the starting chute, riders had to weave their way through the fans. No ropes, no armed entourages. Just professional cyclists trying to negotiate their way through a pedestrian mob without getting knocked over.
It's pretty cool to look up and see a pro rider like Georgie Hincapie reaching out for your shoulder to steady himself as he weaves his way through the throng of humanity surrounding the team pits. There aren't many international events where you can clap a star like Michael Rasmussen or Bobby Julich on the back without getting wrestled to the ground by security.
Back on the course, the speed, power, and grace of the cyclists was a thrill to watch as they powered along the Embarcadero with aerodynamic precision. Things got a bit more ragged up on Telegraph Hill with some riders really suffering coming up the last hill while others came to the finish line dancing on their pedals. Of all the racers, only Chris Baldwin of the Toyota-United pro team came across the finish line in his big chainring.
At the finish line, MC Michael Friese kept the crowd engaged and informed between riders with energetic play-by-play and announcements about the progress of incoming riders, as well as informed commentary, such as "this is a strong man's time trial, not a fast man's time trial". Even the famous parrots of Telegraph Hill got into the action when a large flock of them flew over the finish line during one point in the race.
After completing their punishing climb, riders cooled down with some laps around the parking circle at the top of Telegraph Hill before heading back down to the start line for the awards ceremony or back to their rooms at the Crowne Plaza airport hotel to get ready for today's Stage 1.
Prologue winner Levi Leipheimer basks in the glory of his greatness. Photo from SF_Chris.
For his superhuman effort, Leipheimer rode home with $2029.05 and the eternal admiration of everybody who was out there on Telegraph Hill yesterday. In case you were wondering, 10th place finisher Ben Day snagged a whopping $48.60 for his suffering. For that money, he could probably afford one new tube for his race bike or maybe some valve stem caps.
Tomorrow the riders get back on their bikes for Stage 1, 156 kilometers of North Bay goodness that takes them from Sausalito to Leipheimer's hometown of Santa Rosa.
Until the wind came up in the late afternoon, Sunday's weather was spectacular, possibly even better than last year's spectacular weather. Gots to love that global warming. Apparently, that's it for the sunshine gravy train though, as rain is expected for the rest of the week. The added degree of difficulty should make for some very interesting Northern California stages in the next three days. Be sure to check it out on Versus -- it's worth tuning in just to hear the mellifluous race call of iconic announcers Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen.
Just saying -- the City, the event, the racers, and the spectators owe a huge thanks to the hundreds of unpaid volunteers who were out there on Sunday keeping the course clear for the riders and making the City proud. Great work everybody.
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