I want to like Levi Leipheimer, but…

2 comments | April 21st, 2007 | Trackback

levi There are some guys in the peloton I just don’t like, and I can’t always put a finger on why. (Conversely, there are guys I also like quite a bit, also sometimes for similarly fuzzy reasons.) Usually at the top of my don’t-like list is Robbie McEwen, who I find insufferable and annoying in sprints, and who I can’t forgive for naming his son Ewan. That’s just bad parenting. A friend told me she read a profile of him that made him seem really cool, and that I should read it. I declined. I have my opinoins, and I want them to stay that way, thankyouverymuch.

One guy who I’ve actually tried to get over my dislike of - always unsuccessfully - is Levi Leipheimer. I want to get behind him as an American rider (I do have the occasional bout with patriotism), and, especially in years past, as something of an underdog. Whenever I’ve begun to turn a corner with my opinion of him, however, he ruins everything by being, well, himself.

So it’s with mixed emotions that I say this - Levi is absolutely riding like a madman right now. He’s on a tear. He’s killing his competition. He’s really quite stunning to watch, and it kind of pains me to say that. He bested US ITT champ Dave Zabriskie in Thursday’s Tour de Georgia time trial, and Friday he won on a solo effort up the Brasstown Bald. If it weren’t for that 20+ minute gap the other day, he’d probably be leading the damn race. And this comes after a great overall win in the Tour of California and two stage wins in that race. Amazing stuff.

Now if he weren’t such a whining baby when things don’t go precisely his way, I might be able to change my mind about him. I’m not holding my breath, though.