The Ventoux was eerily awesome: put on it’s beautiful face today, and as usual, was brutal to all the racers. As expected, the wind above the tree line took its toll on some of the top riders. Levi Leipheimer put on the gas and set tempo for the last 5K of the stage, but Denis Menchov and Christophe Moreau attacked and took First and Second in Stage 4 - Denis by a half a wheel length. Levi, in third spot, made the Top in GC, with 28 seconds on Menchov. So, again, we have an American in the leader’s jersey. Jose Azevedo did a long break-away attack in the stage, but lost his momentum in the final 5K, and finished Fourth, 14 seconds back from Leipheimer.

Gilbert tried valiantly, but couldn’t hold on to his GC lead. He gave a wobbly final sprint to the line, and almost crashed - his bike swerved sharply and he had to correct, and hold it up right before the line. I think we’ve all had that happen in a ride, or race, when we’re so pooped that we can barely stay on the bike and kinda lose control of our balance, right? I think he finished about five and a half minutes down in the stage. Landis was over nine minutes down, and finished with Chris Horner at this side. George lost his legs and slipped down to tenth in the GC. I think that Vladimir Gusev of Discovery Channel was not too far back - he’s becoming a great little rider for the DC team.

Photo is Levi Leipheimer in San Francisco for the start of the 2006 Amgen Tour of California Individual Time Trial...