Levi Leipheimer facts for kids

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Levi Leipheimer

Leipheimer at the 2009 Tour of California
Personal information
Full name	Levi Leipheimer
Born	(1973-10-24) October 24, 1973 (age 51) Butte, Montana, U.S.
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	62 kg (137 lb; 9.8 st)
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	All-rounder
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France 1 TTT stage (2009) Vuelta a España 2 individual stages (2008) Stage races Tour of California (2007, 2008, 2009) Tour de Suisse (2011) One-day races and Classics National Road Race Championships (2007) National Time Trial Championships (1999)

Levi Leipheimer (born October 24, 1973) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. He was a two-time US national champion. He won the time trial title in 1999 and the road race in 2007. Leipheimer also earned an Olympic medal.

He was born and grew up in Butte, Montana. Today, he lives in Santa Rosa, California. Leipheimer is known for the King Ridge GranFondo. This is a popular bike ride event in Sonoma County.

Some of Leipheimer's biggest wins include the Tour of California. He won this race three times in a row (2007, 2008, 2009). He also won the 2011 Tour de Suisse and the 2011 USA Pro Cycling Challenge. In Grand Tour races, he finished 2nd in the 2008 Vuelta a España. He also placed 4th in the 2009 Giro d'Italia. Leipheimer won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. This was for the time trial event.

In October 2012, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced a suspension for Leipheimer. This was due to his involvement with banned performance-enhancing methods. These methods were used while he rode for several teams. Leipheimer accepted a 6-month ban. This ban lasted from September 1, 2012, to March 1, 2013. He also had many of his race results removed. These included results from June 1, 1999, to July 30, 2006. Also, results from July 7 to 29, 2007, were removed. This meant his third-place finish in the 2007 Tour de France was no longer counted.

In May 2013, Leipheimer announced his retirement from professional cycling. This happened after his contract with Omega Pharma-Quickstep ended.

Early Life and Amateur Cycling

Leipheimer was born and grew up in Butte, Montana. His parents owned a store that sold sports equipment. When he was young, he mostly enjoyed skiing. However, a skiing accident changed his plans. He then decided to focus his sports dreams on cycling.

Early Teams (1995–1996)

In 1995, Leipheimer rode as an intern for the F.S. Maestro – Frigas team. During this time, he won the Tour of Namur.

1996 Incident

In 1996, Leipheimer was riding for Team Einstein. He won the U.S. National Criterium Championships. This race took place in Grandview Heights, Ohio. However, he later tested positive for ephedrine. This is a substance that is not allowed in sports. Because of this, he lost his title and prize money. He also had to give back his national champion's jersey. He received a three-month suspension from racing. Leipheimer's family later said that the positive test was not from trying to cheat. They said it was because he took allergy medicine called Claritin-D for his hay fever.

Professional Cycling Career

Astana Team (2008–2009)

Leipheimer joined the Astana team in 2008. The team was managed by Johan Bruyneel. Astana was not allowed to race in the 2008 Tour de France. This was because of past issues with banned substances on the team. Even though new riders were on the team, the ban remained. Leipheimer even made a website to try and get the team into the 2008 Tour, but it did not work.

Leipheimer riding with Alberto Contador in the 2008 Vuelta a España.

Leipheimer won the 2008 Tour of California. Astana was allowed to race in the Giro d'Italia at the last minute. Leipheimer finished 18th in that race. He helped his teammate, Alberto Contador, win the overall title. Leipheimer also won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. This was for the road time trial event. He then won two time trials in the 2008 Vuelta a España. He even led the race after the fifth stage. He finished second overall in that race.

In 2009, Leipheimer started the year by winning the Tour of California again. This was his third win in a row. He broke away from other riders during a tough climb in stage 2. This helped him take the lead. He also won stage 6, which was an individual time trial. His Astana teammate, Lance Armstrong, helped him in this race. Armstrong had just returned to cycling. Leipheimer also won the 2009 SRAM Tour of the Gila. His Astana teammates Chris Horner and Armstrong finished second. However, because of rules, they raced as "Team Mellow Johnny's." This name came from Armstrong's bike shop.

In May, Leipheimer raced in the Giro d'Italia for Astana. He finished 6th overall, which was the best for his team. Later, the rider who finished 2nd, Danilo Di Luca, was found to have used a banned substance. He lost his position. This moved Leipheimer up to 5th place in the official records.

Leipheimer was racing in the 2009 Tour de France with Astana. He broke his wrist in a crash near the end of stage 12. At that time, he was in 4th place overall. He had to leave the race because of his injury.

Team RadioShack (2010–2011)

Leipheimer riding behind Rory Sutherland in the 2011 Tour of California.

In 2010, Leipheimer moved to Team RadioShack. He joined Armstrong and other riders from Astana. He won his second straight SRAM Tour of the Gila in April. At the 2010 Tour of California, Leipheimer finished third overall.

Leipheimer was expected to be the main leader for his team in the 2011 Tour of California. However, he became a helper rider for Chris Horner instead. Horner rode very well on a mountain stage. Leipheimer helped Horner win the race. Leipheimer also won a stage that finished at the Mount Baldy ski area. He was second in the individual time trial. In his next race, the Tour of Switzerland, Leipheimer won. He beat the race leader, Damiano Cunego, by a lot in the final time trial. This allowed him to win the tour by just 4 seconds.

Leipheimer won the first ever 2011 USA Pro Cycling Challenge. He won the first stage and the third stage time trial in this race.

Omega Pharma - Quick-Step (2012)

Leipheimer joined the Omega Pharma-Quick-Step team for 2012. He started the year by winning the 2012 Tour de San Luis in Argentina. However, he broke his fibula bone while training. This happened when he crashed into a car just before a race. He said he thought he might die during the accident. He returned to racing at the 2012 Tour of California. He earned the "Most Courageous" jersey after stage one. This was to recognize his brave return from injury. He finished the race in sixth place overall.

Leipheimer during the 2012 Paris–Nice race.

After California, Leipheimer finished third overall in the 2012 Tour de Suisse. He also won a stage of the 2012 Tour of Utah. He finished third overall in the 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge. He had led this race for one day.

Omega Pharma-Quick Step ended Leipheimer's contract in October. This was one week after he shared information with USADA.

Retirement from Professional Cycling

Leipheimer officially retired from professional cycling in May 2013. He had worked with USADA in their case against Lance Armstrong. Leipheimer shared details about his own use of performance-enhancing methods. These methods were used when he rode for U.S. Postal Service, Rabobank, Gerolsteiner, and Astana. In an article he wrote in October 2012, Leipheimer said he had raced cleanly for the last five years of his career.

Leipheimer and four other riders received six-month suspensions. They also had their past race results removed. These riders were George Hincapie, Christian Vande Velde, David Zabriskie, and Tom Danielson. Hincapie retired from cycling. The other riders returned to racing in 2013 after their suspensions ended.

On May 19, 2013, Leipheimer told a newspaper that he was "transitioning into the rest of my life." He said, "I'm retired. It's just been an 'unceremoniously' retired."

Personal Life

On October 23, 2012, a documentary about Leipheimer's career was shown. It was called The Levi Effect: The Story of Levi Leipheimer. It was shown in some theaters in the United States.

Career Achievements

Major Results

All results from June 1, 1999, to July 30, 2006, and July 7 to 29, 2007, have been removed from his official record.

Grand Tour Race Results

Grand Tour general classification results
Grand Tour	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Giro d'Italia	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	18	4	—	—	—
Tour de France	—	—	8	DNF	9	6	12	3	—	DNF	12	32	32
/ Vuelta a España	—	3	—	58	—	—	—	—	2	—	—	—	—
Major Stage Race Results
Race	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
/ Paris–Nice	—	—	—	—	22	—	—	26	—	—	22	8	35
[[File:|20px|link=]]/ Tirreno–Adriatico	—	—	—	—	—	—	DNF	—	—	—	—	—	—
Volta a Catalunya	43	44	—	—	—	—	20	—	—	—	21	—	23
Tour of the Basque Country	—	—	41	18	5	77	—	—	—	—	—	76	—
/ Tour de Romandie	—	—	54	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Critérium du Dauphiné	—	—	—	8	8	3	1	24	3	—	—	—	—
Tour de Suisse	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	10	1	3

See also

In Spanish: Levi Leipheimer para niños