As if there was ANY doubt that Levi Leipheimer was out to prove the Tour de France organizers wrong in snubbing his team …

Leipheimer, riding for Astana, crushed the field in the time trial of the Amgen Tour of California. He finished the 15-mile course in 30 minutes, 46 seconds, about 30 seconds ahead of Slipstream’s David Millar, a former world time trial champion. The surprise in third place was American Christian Vandevelde, Millar’s teammate, in 31:31.

My pick on the day, world champion Fabian Cancellara, finished fifth, more than a minute behind Leipheimer. Cancellara started the day just 13 seconds behind Leipheimer and had beaten Leipheimer by six seconds in the short prologue.

On the one hand, the result is surprising, considering the pedigree of the field. On the other, Leipheimer has worked tirelessly on his time-trialing since spitting out the bit two years ago in the Tour de France. The result solidifies Leipheimer’s hold on the overall lead, but don’t expect him to say he’s the winner.