Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Colombia's Javier Acevedo won the fourth stage of the Tour of Utah on Saturday in hot conditions, and defending champion Levi Leipheimer retained the overall lead with one day left.
Acevedo, racing for Team Gobernacion Indeportes Antioqia, completed 11 laps on a 7.4-mile loop that started and ended at the state capitol building in 2 hours, 56 minutes, 18 seconds.
Spain's Javier Megias finished second, 5 seconds behind Acevedo. Swiss rider Rubens Bertogliati was third.
Leipheimer, the Team RadioShack star from Butte, Mont., had a 23-second lead over Colombia's Sergio Henao in the overall standings. Slovakia's Janez Brajkovic was third, 27 seconds back.
The 100-mile final stage, featuring several rugged climbs, will start in Park City and finish at Snowbird Ski Resort just above the Salt Lake Valley.
"It's really high mountains and long sustained climbs," Leipheimer said. "You will really see it on the riders' faces -- the pain and suffering."
Acevedo got into a small group that broke away from the main pack early.
"All I think about is drinking water," said Acevedo. "It's been very hard for me."
With teammates Henao and Oscar Sevilla -- 29 seconds behind Leipheimer -- in the top four in the overall standings, Acevedo said his team wanted to make Leipheimer feel some heat going into the final day.
"The race is not lost," Acevedo said. "We're hanging in there. We are going to give it our all to win tomorrow."
Leipheimer was 30th in the stage, 1:38 behind Acevedo.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
