Nebraska Cycling News

Lepheimer’s Seven Victories Propel Him to Overall Championship

Colorado Springs, CO. - Levi Leipheimer (Santa Rosa, Calif.) and his Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team closed out the domestic pro calendar Sunday as overall champions of the inaugural USA Cycling Professional Tour.

Leipheimer finished the season with 381 points to win the title by a 162-point margin, 381-219, over recent Tour of Missouri winner George Hincapie (Greenville, S.C.). Bernard Eisel (GER), winner of both the Commerce Bank Lancaster Classic and the Commerce Bank Reading Classic, was third with 200 points.  Philadelphia International Championship victor Juan Jose Haedo (ARG) finished fourth with 198 points and Tour de Georgia winner Janez Brajkovic (SLO) rounded out the top five with 136 points.    

Leipheimer led the 13-race Tour from start to finish after opening the season with an overall victory at the Amgen Tour of California in February.  Earlier this month, Leipheimer also claimed his first-career pro road title at the USA Cycling Professional Championships in Greenville, S.C.  Throughout the season, Leipheimer also dominated the individual time trial stages at all three major international stage races, capturing wins in the prologue and stage-5 time trial of the Amgen Tour of California, the stage-4 time trial at the Tour de Georgia and the stage-3 time trial at the Tour of Missouri. Leipheimer also won the Tour de Georgia’s signature stage atop Brasstown Bald for a total of seven wins on the Pro Tour this season.

Backed by Leipheimer’s career-best season, the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team also benefited from performances by several other team members to help solidify its overall team title. Hincapie won the overall classification at the Tour of Missouri and placed second to Leipheimer at the USA Cycling Professional Championships while Slovenian teammate Brajkovic captured the overall Tour de Georgia title in April.

With three individuals in the top five, the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team scored a total of 810 points to finish ahead of Team CSC (560), Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle (311), T-Mobile (299) and Navigators Insurance (251).

2007 USA Cycling Professional Tour Winners:

Amgen Tour of California – Levi Leipheimer (Santa Rosa, Calif.)

U.S. Open – Svein Tuft (CAN)

Tour de Georgia – Janez Brajkovic (SLO)

Commerce Bank Lancaster Classic – Bernard Eisel (GER)

Commerce Bank Reading Classic – Bernard Eisel (GER)

Commerce Bank International Championship – Juan Jose Haedo (ARG)

Saturn Rochester Twilight Criterium – Hilton Clarke (AUS)

USA Cycling Professional Criterium Championships – Martin Gilbert (CAN)

USA Cycling Professional Time Trial Championships – David Zabriskie (Salt Lake City, Utah)

USA Cycling Professional Road Race Championships – Levi Leipheimer (Santa Rosa, Calif.)

Univest Grand Prix – Will Frischkorn (Boulder, Colo.)

Tour of Missouri – George Hincapie (Greenville, S.C.)

Tour de Leelanau – Garrett Peltonen (Boulder, Colo.)

2007 USA Cycling Professional Tour

Final Overall Standings:

Final Individual Standings
1. Levi Leipheimer (Santa Rosa, Calif.) 381
2. George Hincapie (Greenville, S.C.) 219
3. Bernard Eisel (GER) 200
4. Juan Jose Haedo (ARG) 198
5. Janez Brajkovic (SLO) 136

Final Team Standings
1. Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team (USA) 810
2. Team CSC (DEN) 560
3. Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle (USA) 311
4. T-Mobile (GER) 299
5. Navigators Insurance Cycling Team (USA) 251

*For complete standings, visit www.usacycling.org/protour.