Team Astana's Levi Leipheimer and Alberto Contador finished first and second in the second stage of the Spanish stage race Vuelta a Castilla y León. Leipheimer took over the lead after winning the individual time trial in and around Palencia. He finished the 28 kilometer course in 33:17 and was 16 seconds faster than teammate Alberto Contador. US time trial champion David Zabriskie finished third at 22 seconds behind. In the General Classification Leipheimer leads now by the same 16 seconds to Alberto Contador.
For Leipheimer it is his second time trial victory of the season. The winner of the Amgen Tour of California earlier this year found a course that really suited him. "It was a good time trial for me, especially as it was always straight. However it was hard. There was a lot of wind and you could never recover. You had to push all the time, but as always in time trials, I finished very strong. There was more wind later in the day. It explains a bit as well why Alberto, who started later, had better split times when he raced with tailwind and was slower when there was headwind. Ten days after the Tour of California, I started training again. In the last month I did less than normal because of my fracture but maybe for here that is good. I feel fresh."
Alberto Contador, the winner of the 2007 and 2008 Tour of Castilla y León, finished second. Remarking on his split times in the first part of the race he said, "In the end there was a lot of head wind. It was so hard for me, but I am very happy for Levi and for the progress I've made this whole year in my time trial work. For the overall classification, I think we will work for Levi, as he already worked so hard for me in the past, but we have to be attentive for other riders. Everybody will attack us. The mountain stages are not favorable for me. The climbs are not so steep as last years. In general, this edition does not suit me so much."
