Levi Leipheimer

Updated: January 27, 2026

Levi Leipheimer is a retired American professional road cyclist from Butte, Montana, best known for multiple Grand Tour podiums, overall wins at major stage races like the Tour of California, and later for publicly admitting to doping and accepting sanctions that retroactively stripped some of his results.

Core career highlights

• Born October 24, 1973, in Butte, Montana; he turned professional in the late 1990s and rode for teams including Saturn, U.S. Postal Service, Rabobank, Gerolsteiner, Discovery Channel, Astana, RadioShack, and Omega Pharma-Quick Step.
• Beyond his 2002 Tour de France top-10, he finished third overall in the Tour de France in 2007 (already mentioned in your text) and went on to place third again in 2008 before that 2008 Tour result was later annulled as part of his doping sanction period.
• He took the overall title at the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré in 2006, one of the key week-long preparation races for the Tour de France.
• Leipheimer won the overall Tour of California three consecutive times, in 2007, 2008, and 2009, becoming the dominant rider in that event's early years.
• He finished second overall at the 2008 Vuelta a España and fourth overall at the 2009 Giro d'Italia, adding podiums and near-podiums in all three Grand Tours to his palmarès.
• In 2011 he won the Tour de Suisse, one of the most prestigious week-long WorldTour races, and also took overall victories at the Tour of Utah and the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado that year.
• His later career included additional overall wins and stage wins at races such as the Tour of Utah, USA Pro Challenge, and Tour de San Luis in 2010-2012. [procyclingstats](https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/levi-leipheimer/statistics/wins)

Olympic and national results

• Leipheimer won the United States road race national championship in 2007, adding the stars-and-stripes jersey to his earlier national time trial title already noted in your article.
• He originally earned a bronze medal in the men's individual time trial at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, but that result was later disqualified when his performances from a portion of his career were voided as part of his anti-doping sanction.

Doping admission and sanctions

• In 2012 Leipheimer gave sworn testimony and an affidavit to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in its investigation of Lance Armstrong and the U.S. Postal Service team, admitting to the use of EPO, testosterone, and blood transfusions across several teams and years.
• USADA imposed a six-month suspension on Leipheimer, running from September 1, 2012, to March 1, 2013, and disqualified all his results from June 1, 1999, through July 30, 2006, and from July 7 through July 29, 2007, which removed a number of victories and high placings from the record, including some Grand Tour results.
• In an opinion piece titled "Why I Doped" published on The Wall Street Journal's website in October 2012, he explained his decision to use performance-enhancing drugs and said he believed he had raced the last five years of his career clean.

Retirement and life after racing

• Following his suspension and the fallout from his admission, Leipheimer's then-team Omega Pharma-Quick Step released him, and no other WorldTour team signed him, effectively ending his professional career.
• He announced his retirement from professional cycling in May 2013 at age 39.
• After retiring, Leipheimer remained in Northern California and stayed active in cycling, including mentoring and advising younger riders and masters racers, and continuing to ride many hours per week even without racing contracts.
• He founded and lent his name to a mass-participation ride, Levi's GranFondo, based in Santa Rosa, California, which became a major charity and community cycling event, and he has used it to support local causes and cycling-related charities. [en.wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Leipheimer)

Update

In the years after his 2007 Tour de France podium, Leipheimer added overall victories at major stage races including the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, three consecutive Tours of California, the Tour de Suisse, and several prominent American and international events, as well as a podium at the Vuelta a España and a near-podium at the Giro d'Italia. He later admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs during portions of his career, accepted a six-month suspension and the disqualification of many results, and retired from professional cycling in 2013. Since retiring, Leipheimer has remained closely connected to the sport through mentoring riders and organizing Levi's GranFondo in Northern California, continuing to shape cycling culture even after leaving the professional peloton.

Updated: January 27, 2026