Amgen Tour of California Stage 6: Zabriskie sets TT course record as Horner keeps race lead

Chris Horner retained his overnight race lead in the Amgen Tour of California despite the efforts of RadioShack team-mate Levi Leipheimer to overhaul him during a 24km individual time trial in Solway yesterday. Many had expected that Leipheimer’s expertise in the discipline would allow him to overhaul Horner’s 1 minute 15 second lead, but in the end he took back only around half that time, 36 seconds, on a day when stage winner David Zabriskie set a new course record.

Leipheimer, three times an overall winner of the race, finished second, the same position he occupies in the overall standings, on a day when David Zabriskie of Garmin-Cervelo posted the fastest time, setting a new course record for Solway, included in the race for the fourth time, as he came home in a time almost half a minute faster than that of Leipheimer.
HTC-Highroad’s Tejay van Garderen finished third and keeps his lead at the top of the young riders’ classification ahead of Liquigas-Cannondale Peter Sagan, who is the current wearer of the points jersey.

Today’s Stage 7 is likely to decide the 2011 race at least in terms of the overall rankings, with a summit finish after the 8.9% climb of Mount Baldy Road, which itself follows the ascent of the Glendora Mountain Road. Tomorrow’s 129.1km eighth and final stage includes the climbs of the Balcom Canyon and Norwegian Grade, followed by five laps of a closing circuit in Thousand Oaks.