The latest true test before the Tour de France - that goes under way on July the 1st - ended with another American on the top spot. This time, it was Levi Leipheimer to retain his yellow jersey in the race, winning the 58th edition of the Dauphine Libere on Sunday. The triumph is, by far, the best performance that Leipheimer had in his entire career, and gives him a great boost of confidence before the Tour de France.

Still to confirm his Dauphine Libere victory with a good run in the French Tour, the Gerolsteiner American was followed in the final standings by French favorite Christophe Moreau and German Bernard Kohl. The last stage was really not that important, since it was a flat one, with Moreau and Kohl unable to endanger Leipheimer first position.

"It's been a hard, fast, difficult race again, with never a moment's respite. That we could win it this year says a lot about myself and a lot about Gerolsteiner as a team. This win will give them and me a lot of confidence in the Tour. It will be a very different race without Lance Armstrong, but I'll be looking for my chances. You have to pick the right one", said the American, who only managed to finish 6th in last year's Tour de France.

The French competition will see a lot of cyclists trying to win the Tour for the first time, after Lance Armstrong decided to retire last year. Following a series of 7 wins in France, nobody really stood a chance when Lance was in the Tour. Now, there are at least 4 men that will go for the winning crown by the end of the 3-week race: Ivan Basso (winner of Il Giro earlier last month), Jan Ullrich (winner of the 1997 Le Tour and runner-up in '98, 2000, and 2001), Levi Leipheimer (winner of Dauphine Libere this weekend) and Alexander Vinokourov (runner up in 2002 in Le Tour).

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