Local Cyclist Beats Lance in Tour of California
Tom Peterson of North Bend is a pro bike racer for the Garmin-Slipstream team competing in this week's Tour of California. As The New York Times reports here, he won the tour's second stage yesterday, beating last year's champ (and this year's favorite), Levi Leipheimer, during a brutally wet and chilly 116-mile ride. The most famous rider in the race, Lance Armstrong, was about 20 seconds back with the main peloton. Peterson isn't one of the big stars in the race or on his team (official team profile here). Instead, he was assigned the job of marking Leipheimer when he made a big break that ultimately put him in the race lead. Peterson stuck to Leipheimer's rear wheel, then outsprinted him for the stage win. (That's bike racing: You don't help a rival team by sharing the wind-breaking duties up front.) The NYT offers this funny exchange with the 22-year-old rider: "Asked if this was his biggest victory, [Peterson] said, 'It's maybe my only win.' Then asked what this victory means, he said, 'That there will be more?'" And also: a likely place on the team roster for the Tour de France this July.
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