Levi Leipheimer

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency report on Lance Armstrong, released Wednesday, has had some fallout on another cyclist: Levi Leipheimer. The Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team suspended Leipheimer on Thursday in the wake of the report. The team said the 38-year-old veteran was “placed on non-active status” while the USADA report and Leipheimer's statements are reviewed. USADA used evidence from 26 people, including Leipheimer, for a report that presented doping evidence against Armstrong.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency report on Lance Armstrong, released Wednesday, has had some fallout on another cyclist: Levi Leipheimer. The Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team suspended Leipheimer on Thursday in the wake of the report. The team said the 38-year-old veteran was “placed on non-active status” while the USADA report and Leipheimer's statements are reviewed. USADA used evidence from 26 people, including Leipheimer, for a report that presented doping evidence against Armstrong.

Lance Armstrong stayed in third place after a wet and chilly ride Friday and lost a crucial ally for the rest of the Tour de France when teammate Levi Leipheimer withdrew because of a broken wrist. Germany's Heinrich Haussler won the 13th stage by outclassing the pack with a solo breakaway, and Italy's Rinaldo Nocentini kept the yellow jersey for a seventh straight day. Armstrong, the seven-time champion, remained eight seconds behind Nocentini.

Chris Horner and Levi Leipheimer crossed the finish line Saturday at the top of Mt. Baldy holding hands at the end of Stage 7 of the Amgen Tour of California. Leipheimer, by the margin of a finger, was the winner of the 75.8-mile stage from Claremont to the top of Mt. Baldy, and Leipheimer's RadioShack teammate Horner just about clinched the overall title with only Sunday's 82-mile ride from Santa Clarita to Thousand Oaks as a wrap-up. It took three-time race winner Leipheimer 3 hours 33.01 seconds to ride Saturday's stage.

Chris Horner and Levi Leipheimer crossed the finish line Saturday at the top of Mt. Baldy holding hands at the end of Stage 7 of the Amgen Tour of California. Leipheimer, by the margin of a finger, was the winner of the 75.8-mile stage from Claremont to the top of Mt. Baldy, and Leipheimer's RadioShack teammate Horner just about clinched the overall title with only Sunday's 82-mile ride from Santa Clarita to Thousand Oaks as a wrap-up. It took three-time race winner Leipheimer 3 hours 33.01 seconds to ride Saturday's stage.

Reporting from Santa Cruz -- Here's what Versus television viewers did not get to see as Stage 3 of the Tour of California on Tuesday afternoon neared the end, about 4 p.m., with the sun sparkling off the Pacific Ocean and the boardwalk packed with cycling fans: After more than four hours on the road, Levi Leipheimer, Michael Rogers and Dave Zabriskie sprinting on their bikes as if they were boys again racing home from school, three guys, shoulder...

While the pre-race focus at the Amgen Tour of California has been on Lance Armstrong and his comeback, Armstrong is an unlikely overall winner. Veteran cycling commentator Phil Liggett considers the field to be the strongest in the U.S. outside of a world championship. Staff writer Diane Pucin looks at some riders worth watching. -- Overall Levi Leipheimer, Astana -- Two-time defending champion, 2008 Olympic bronze medalist and four-time top-10 finisher at Tour de France.

— Lance Armstrong has his favorites for the Amgen Tour of California, which begins Sunday with a trip from Nevada City to downtown Sacramento. Armstrong predicts the race won't be decided at least until Saturday's time trial that starts and finishes at LA Live in Los Angeles. "I think it comes down to the time trial," Armstrong said. "If I was looking at it as an analyst, I'd say Levi [Leipheimer], Dave [Zabriskie] and Michael Rogers will be the big three … I'm not sure the climbs are selective enough.

Reporting from Morzine, France — On this first 2010 Tour de France rest day, Lance Armstrong rode a historic Alps climb, the Col de Joux Plane, one of the steepest of cycling's mountain rides. It was a training trip for Armstrong, cyclist Levi Leipheimer said. It was not a ride done for fun. Armstrong, 38, was working out his kinks, bumps and bruises, his aches and pains and maybe his wounded pride. His job for the next two weeks is an unexpected one — he will be a helper for Leipheimer.

Lance Armstrong will be back at the Amgen 2010 Tour of California, and for some that makes the race a destination choice. But Armstrong's participation this year, his second in a row, will be part of a newly formed American-based team, RadioShack, and it will be at a new time and with new challenges. Nothing if not trendy, tour officials arranged to have several cyclists, including Armstrong and three-time champion Levi Leipheimer, announce their participation and unveil route information via Twitter this morning.

Friday's stage: It was time-trial day, a 15-mile circuit in Solvang. For the first time in race history there was also a women's time trial. Winners: Dave Zabriskie broke a course record held by fellow American Levi Leipheimer, who finished second. The women's winner was Olympic gold medalist Kristin Armstrong. Leader's jersey: Chris Horner of Team RadioShack lost 36 seconds from his overall lead but managed to hang on to first place with two stages left. Quote of the day: Looking ahead to Saturday's mountaintop finish at Mt. Baldy, Zabriskie said, "[Saturday is]

Monday's stage: It was scheduled to be 133.2 miles from Squaw Valley to Sacramento and travel over the Donner Pass, snow again affected the race. Because of the continuing wintry weather that caused Sunday's Stage 1 to be canceled, Stage 2 was shortened to about 76 miles and began in Nevada City with a finish in downtown Sacramento. Winner: Ben Swift, 23, of Britain and the Sky ProCycling team, won the slippery sprint finish near the state Capitol. The weather continued to be uncooperative with a downpour hitting downtown Sacramento just as the peloton arrived to ride circuits around downtown.

The 2011 Amgen Tour of California will kick off May 15 with a lap and a half around Lake Tahoe , the first visit to the Sierra Nevada scenic treasure in the six-year history of the elite pedal-power race around the state. Billed as the largest such event in the U.S.,  the  tour will cover more than 800 miles of the Golden State over eight days. After the Lake Tahoe loop, competitors will stop in Sacramento , Modesto, San Jose and Paso Robles . Solvang will host individual time trials.

Reporting from Morzine, France — On this first 2010 Tour de France rest day, Lance Armstrong rode a historic Alps climb, the Col de Joux Plane, one of the steepest of cycling's mountain rides. It was a training trip for Armstrong, cyclist Levi Leipheimer said. It was not a ride done for fun. Armstrong, 38, was working out his kinks, bumps and bruises, his aches and pains and maybe his wounded pride. His job for the next two weeks is an unexpected one — he will be a helper for Leipheimer.

The Amgen Tour of California passed Floyd Landis by Saturday. As Landis ate hamburger sliders in a hospitality tent, guarded by security men wearing bulletproof vests and carrying guns and billy clubs, the California-based HTC-Columbia team owned the racing day Saturday while the American men who were accused by Landis of participating in performance-enhancing doping, straggled in with disappointing rides. Tony Martin, a 25-year-old German, won the 20.9-mile time trial that began and ended in front of LA Live, and his teammate, 30-year-old Michael Rogers of Australia strengthened his hold on the overall lead by finishing second.