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Astana’s Levi Leipheimer took a substantial leap forward in his quest to defend his Amgen Tour of California victory, winning the stage 5 individual time trial in Solvang. The American, who was the final rider to leave the starting gate, finished the rolling 15-mile course in 30:47, 29 seconds up on British time trial champ David Millar (Slipstream-Chipotle), with American Christian Vande Velde in third at 45 seconds back.

Three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond and his family and partners have a lien on part of a Montana real estate development that owes the group $20 million from a court settlement. LeMond, his wife and parents-in-law and a friend had invested in the Yellowstone Mountain Club, a private golf and ski community in Big Sky. In 2006 they sued the developer, Tim Blixseth, charging that he had tried to buy out their shares at less than their value.

It wouldn’t be California without sizing up everyone’s appearance, so here is one observer’s take on the new-for-2008 designs unveiled at this year’s Amgen Tour of California. With all the problems our sport has faced over the last few years, perhaps it’s no wonder why so many teams — BMC, Quick Step, Jelly Belly, High Road and CSC — have chosen a wholesome white background for their kits.

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Welcome to the latest edition of The Prologue, the weekly summary of news from the world of professional cycling by your friends at VeloNews.com.

Gerolsteiner's Robert Förster won a mass sprint Friday in the third stage of Portugal's Volta ao Algarve, winning the stage while retaining his overall lead. Förster took the 208km stage from Vila Real S.Antontio to Loule after his team and Quick Step pulled back an early breakaway, catching its lone survivor, Belgian Gianni Meersman (Française des Jeux), in the final 600 meters. Belgian Jurgen Roelandts (Silence-Lotto) and the Frenchman Lilian Jegou (Française des Jeux) finished second and third in the sprint.

Fabian Cancellara was clearly not a happy man. At the end of Wednesday’s decisive stage 3 ride into San Jose, the CSC star threw a water bottle to the ground and climbed into his team car for a ride to his hotel. He wasn’t in the mood for a post-race talk with reporters.

Leipheimer Repeats in Solvang

Stage 3 ATOC 2008, Levi bombing downhill

Toyota-United’s Dominique Rollin may be celebrating Thursday’s 7 1/2-hour march as his best-ever day as a professional cyclist, but he’s likely the only rider in the Amgen Tour of California peloton to feel that way.

Dominque Rollin wins it with a well-timed attack!

With a show of raw power reminiscent of Tom Boonen’s victories in the spring classics, Canadian Dominique Rollin muscled his way to a solo victory in the Amgen Tour of California’s rain-soaked fourth stage. The 25-year-old shattered a dwindling seven-man breakaway with 15 miles remaining in the brutal 135.3-mile slog from Seaside to San Luis Obispo, and then held off breakaway companions George Hincapie (High Road) and Iker Camano (Saunier Duval-Scott) by 18 seconds to take the biggest win of his young career.

Brooke Miller won the 2008 Amgen Women's Criterium, an event held during the first stage of the Amgen Tour of California and the first event of this year's National Racing Calendar. Miller, a Cleveland resident who won ten races in Europe last year in her first season racing abroad, edged Cheerwine’s Laura Van Gilder and Team High Road’s Emila Fahlin

When High Road unveiled its 2008 kits, it was an all-black affair with red and yellow lettering that looked vaguely out of the Performance Bicycle clearance rack. Given the teams’ strict anti-doping philosophy, I was surprised they hadn’t gone with white —pure as the driven snow, and all. But prior to the team’s official presentation last week, the black jerseys had given way to white, while the black shorts and Ocean Pacific-style font remained. It’s simple and straightforward, even if it doesn’t immediately say “world class cycling team.”

Other standout mostly white kits include the national champions’ uniforms of German champ Fabian Wegmann, British champ David Millar and U.S. champ Levi Leipheimer (which of course he swapped for the yellow leader’s jersey following Wednesday’s stage).

The retro look is also in — again — as evidenced by the Evil Knievel stars-and-stripes of Leipheimer's champion kit (Come to think of it, Knievel, may he rest in peace, may have contributed as much to pop fashion as he did to extreme sports. There's a doctoral thesis in this idea for someone).

With its green and yellow colors, this Minneapolis-based team kind of has that whole Green Bay Packers, scrappy underdog thing going. Though it’s not much different than last year, with just a little blue added in the mix, the KBS-Medifast kit is different.

The Oakland Raiders of this year’s pro peloton. I’ll give Rock credit — their kits certainly stand out, even if they do look like intergalactic pirates emerging from a vat of radioactive waste (or like Teenage Mutant Ninja Halloween contests, as VeloNews senior editor Charles Pelkey says). I personally don’t care for their kits, but I have to say, when you see their matching lime green-and-black kits, De Rosa bikes and team Escalades at once, the whole ensemble comes together. It’s Rock, dude.

I wasn’t a fan of last year’s Astana kits, which looked a little too much like Easter eggs. Working within the color scheme of Kazakhstan’s national colors, this year’s kit, which incorporates more white than last year, is an improvement.

Modeled here by Tom Boonen on the left, Quick Step-Innergetic is another team that opted for a white background with blue accents, departing from last year’s solid blue design with elements of white and gray. I like it, although that white is going to get pretty dirty during the Belgian classics. But my favorite outfit at this year’s Tour of California? Well, other than Rock Racing’s podium girls, who look good in anything they’re wearing (and really have to be seen to be believed), I’m going to go with world champion Paolo Bettini, on the right. He’s got the coolest all-white kit in the peloton, and as the saying goes, rainbow stripes never go out of style.

Tomas Vaitkus delivered a dose of revenge for his beleaguered Astana team by taking the team’s first win of the 2008 season in the 189.5km second stage at the Volta ao Algarve, a day after his teammate Levi Leipheimer took the lead at the Tour of California. Overnight leader Robert Förster (Gerolsteiner) came through second in the mass gallop to retain his place atop the GC, with Vaitkus slotting in at second at just one second back.

Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) made it three in a row while Pablo Lastras (Caisse d’Epargne) wrapped up the overall title at the 54th Vuelta a Andalucía-Ruta de Sol. The 154.6km fifth and final stage from Antequera to Córdoba ended just as both protagonists could have hoped. The 34-year-old “AleJet” made easy work of Denis Flahaut (Saunier Duval) and Sebastian Siedler (Skil Shimano) while Lastras finished safely in the pack to secure the top spot on the podium.

Bjarne Riis is sooooo not getting his rental deposit back. The back window was taken out by Kelly Benefit's Kevin Lacombe apparently ran into the car on the descent from the second KOM during Wednesday's stage.

As predicted, stage 3 proved itself pivotal to the overall of the Amgen Tour of California. While we don’t yet know who will take the overall title, we can probably rule out 115 of the 120 men left in the race. Those still with a realistic chance include defending champion Levi Leipheimer (Astana), world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara (CSC) and three Slipstream-Chipotle riders: Dave Zabriskie, David Millar and Christian Vande Velde.