Zabriskie nips Rogers, Leipheimer for Stage 3 win, overall lead

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

David Zabriskie of Garmin-Transitions who has called Los Angeles his home for almost a year, outsprinted HTC-Columbia’s Michael Rogers and three-time defending champion Levi Leipheimer of Team RadioShack to win Stage 3 of the Amgen Tour of California Tuesday.

If you were watching the race on Versus you missed the nail-biter because the network left the race at 4 p.m. for its coverage of the Montreal-Philadelphia NHL playoff game. That led to the question of whether Versus would have abandoned coverage if RadioShack’s Lance Armstrong had been sprinting for the lead.

After the riders fought rain for most of Monday and even some early morning sprinkles on Tuesday, the finish of the 113.3-mile stage that had begun in San Francisco, was completed in picture-perfect conditions.

Zabriskie crossed the finish line in four hours, 26 minutes and 10 seconds and afterward said he was thrilled because he has never led for a stage here. He leads Rogers by four seconds overall and Leipheimer by six seconds. Last year Zabriskie finished second to Leipheimer.

For more, check latimes.com/sports later.

-- Diane Pucin, reporting from Santa Cruz, Calif.