Astana rider Levi Leipheimer won the second stage of the Vuelta of Castilla and Leon cycling race Tuesday, beating teammate Alberto Contador by 16 seconds. Leipheimer won the 28-kilometer time trial Tuesday in and around the northern town of Palencia in 33 minutes, 17.78 seconds. Garmin-Slipstream rider David Zabriskie was third, 22 seconds behind Leipheimer. Leipheimer, who won the Tour of California, leads Contador in the overall standings by 16 seconds. “We're very happy with the results, if they can keep going like that,” Astana team manager Johan Bruyneel said. Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong left the race Monday after fracturing his collarbone in a crash. The Castilla and Leon was to have been the first time Astana teammates Armstrong and Contador had ridden together since the 37-year-old American returned from 3½ years of retirement. Wednesday's third stage is a 157-kilometer ride between Sahagun and the mountain top winter station of San Isidro. ‘Armstrong will be at Giro' Lance Armstrong will recover from a broken collarbone in time to bid for his eighth Tour de France title in July, and may even compete in the Giro d'Italia in May, his team manager said Tuesday. “A broken collarbone in March does not change anything as regards the Tour de France,” which starts on July 4, said Johan Bruyneel, the manager of Armstrong's Astana team. “Personally, I think it is still possible to take part in the Giro,” which starts on May 9,” said the Belgian. The American cycling legend broke his collarbone when he fell along with several other riders about 20 kilometers from the finish line on Monday. Doctors will decide in the coming days if Armstrong, who left for his home in Texas Tuesday, will have to undergo an operation, said Bruyneel.
