Rollin wins state tour stage

SAN LUIS OBISPO -- Dominique Rollin of Canada won the nearly seven-hour fourth stage and Levi Leipheimer of Santa Rosa retained his race lead Thursday in the Amgen Tour of California.

Rollin, 25, the 2006 Canadian road race national titlist, emerged from a lead group of seven riders with about 12.5 miles left and pedaled to a solo win in 6 hours 56 minutes 8 seconds in the 135-mile road race from Seaside.

“With about 25 miles left, I looked around, and I knew I was one of the strongest guys,” said Rollin, who began the stage in 62nd place, trailing by nearly 25 minutes. “With about six miles left, I had a 40-second lead. I couldn’t help it, I had a smile on my face.”

Leipheimer, the defending race titlist who assumed a 13-second race lead Wednesday, finished 16th in the main field, 2 minutes and 28 seconds behind the winner.

Leipheimer maintained the same margin over Fabian Cancellara (CSC) of Switzerland, the prologue winner and first of three race leaders.

Riding often in steady rain and crosswinds gusting more than 30 mph, Rollin persevered on a stage that ravaged the field. Combined with a six-mile ceremonial, non-timed parade start in Seaside, the riders pedaled for nearly 7 1/2 hours, longer than many mountain stages of the Tour de France.

George Hincapie (High Road) of Greenville, S.C., finished second in the stage and Iker Camano (Saunier-Duval) of Spain was third, both crossing the finish line 18 seconds behind Rollin.

Fifteen riders didn’t start or abandoned the race during the stage. Eleven riders departed the race Wednesday for the same reasons.

The eight-day, 650-race continues through Sunday.

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Tour of California

*--* STAGE 4 Rider, From Time Dominique Rollin, Canada 6:56:08 George Hincapie, Greenville, S.C. 6:56:26 Iker Camano, Spain Same Gerald Ciolek, Germany 2:28 behind Mark Cavendish, Britain Same *--*

*--* OVERALL Rider, From Time Levi Leipheimer, Santa Rosa 20:44:06 Fabian Cancellara, Switzerland 0:13 behind Robert Gesink, Netherlands 0:15 David Millar, Britain 0:20 Gustav Larsson, Sweden 0:21 *--*

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UP NEXT: STAGE 5

Today: The 105 remaining riders (the race started with 133) will race against the clock in a key stage set in and around Solvang. With only one short, steep climb to slow the riders down, the 15-mile individual time trial route could go a long way toward determining who stands on the podium in Pasadena on Sunday.

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Associated Press