Levi Leipheimer fighting his way up the Tour de France overall classifications
Levi Leipheimer of Team Omega Pharma-Quick Step was amongst the few cyclists who managed to avoid the massive crash during the stage 6 of the race.
The cyclist currently holds the 22nd overall position after the stage 6 general classifications with a total deficit of 45 seconds over the race leader.
Fabian Cancellara of Team RadioShack-Nissan, Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky Procycling and Sylvain Chavanel of Team Omega Pharma-QuickStep hold the first, the second and the third positions respectively.
Leipheimer is leading the team at the most prestigious cycling race of the season, the Tour de France but his current form does not seem very promising for an overall victory.
He cited, "It's definitely going to become clear who's strong and who the favourites are. It's simple math really”.
“If someone gets dropped big-time then they are simply not going to be in it".
"I stayed up front ahead of the crash and someone said there was only 40 or 50 guys left. I don't know what happened”.
“One moment it got windy, it got fast. It's the Tour de France. If you're at the front you're OK. But everyone's so strong that the speed can snap the peloton and there's no coming back from it".
The 38-year-old marked his professional debut with Team Comptel-Colorado Cyclist in 1997 and spent a period of one year with the side.
He also represented Team Saturn (1998-1999), Team US Postal (2000-01), Team Rabobank (2002-04), Team Gerolsteiner (2005-06) and joined Team Discovery Channel in 2007.
The cyclist accepted an offer from Team Astana for 2008-09, Team RadioShack (2010-11) and finally penned a deal with Team Omega Pharma-Quick Step to start his 2012 season.
Levi is appearing in his 13th Grand Tour race of the 2012 season including two Giro d’Italia, nine Tour de France and two Vuelta a Espana participations to his name.
Leipheimer opened his 2012 winning account with a stage 3 victory at the Tour de San Luis and also secured the stage 4 and an overall victory at the race.
The American finished third overall at the Tour de Suisse and secured the sixth overall spot during the Tour of California.
Only time will tell, if Levi manages to find the right momentum to find his way through to the top podium spot after the final general classifications.
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