American Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) won the most difficult stage of the Tour of Germany on Thursday, a tough 171.6 kilometer Alpine race from Kufstein and Sölden in Austria.

Leipheimer, sixth at this year’s Tour de France, also grabbed the overall leader’s jersey as he rode away from race favorite Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) on the brutally difficult 15-kilometer final climb to the finish.

Ullrich, who had made the German Tour his main post-TdF objective, conceded 50 seconds to the American on the final climb, which rises 2670 meters with an average grade of 12 percent. Only Leipheimer’s Gerolsteiner teammate, Austrian Georg Totschnig, managed to stay with his team captain before loosing ground on the last kilometer.

Ullrich, who now sits 56 seconds behind the American, said he hasn't given up hope of taking his national tour. The T-Mobile leader finished in third place on the day, 22 seconds ahead of Cadel Evans (Davitamon-Lotto) and 34 seconds up on fifth-placed Jörg Jaksche of Liberty Seguros.

22-year-old American Saul Raisin finished the day in seventh place at 2:46 behind Leipheimer and is now seventh overall at 2:56.

Ullrich fought to stay with the two Gerolsteiners, but faded near the top.

Photo: AFP/Michael Kappeler GERMANY OUT

It was that elite group of five that set a hard pace onto the day’s final climb, setting a pace that few others could match. From there, it became a battle of attrition among the stars, with Leipheimer driving hard at the front, progressively shedding the competition as the grind to Sölden continued.

By day’s end Leipheimer not only took the overall leader’s jersey from QuickStep’s Bram Tankink, but also the KOM jersey from his Gerolsteiner teammate Fabian Wegmann.

As expected this, the tour’s Königsetappe (stage of kings) ended as a battle between Germany’s two top squads, Gerolsteiner and T-Mobile. The day began with early attacks from those hoping to gain time on the approach to the finishing climb.

Antonio Colom (Illes Balears) and Team Wiesenhof’s André Greipel made an early attack but were reeled in on the day’s first hors categorie climb to the summit of the Kühtai pass.

The big squads would not allow the stage to be decided until the final climb. While Leipheimer emerged the victor, Ullrich said he has not conceded defeat in the nine-stage event, pinning his hopes of making up his defecit on Monday’s 31km pan-flat, individual time trial from Ludwigshafen to Weinheim.

Both Gerolsteiner and T-Mobile lost major riders as Sebastian Lang and Alexandre Vinokourov were among eight riders who withdrew along Thursday’s route. Vinokourov may not be too concerned by his decision to withdraw, as he has already signed a new deal with Manolo Saiz's Liberty Seguros squad for next season, after excpressing frustration with the structure of T-Mobile during the Tour de France.

Stage Results
1. Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner, at 5:11:56
2. Georg Totschnig, Gerolsteiner, at 0:15
3. Jan Ullrich, T-Mobile, at 0:50
4. Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, at 1:12
5. Jörg Jaksche, Liberty Seguros, at 1:24
6. Tadej Valjavec, Phonak, at 1:41
7. Saul Raisin, Credit Agricole, at 2:46
8. Marco Fertonani, Domina Vacanze, at 2:48
9. Fabian Jeker, Saunier Duval, at 3:06
10. Patrik Sinkewitz, Quickstep
11. Danilo Di Luca, Liquigas-Bianchi, at 3:48
12. Wim Van Huffel, Davitamon-Lotto
13. Marzio Bruseghin, Fassa Bortolo, at 4:28
14. David Arroyo Duran, Illes Balears, at 5:03
15. Jesus Hernandez, Liberty Seguros, at 5:39
FullResultsOverall, after four stages
1. Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner, 19:17:02
2. Georg Totschnig, Gerolsteiner, at 0:18
3. Jan Ullrich, T-Mobile, at 0:56
4. Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, at 1:22
5. Jörg Jaksche, Liberty Seguros, at 1:28
6. Tadej Valjavec, Phonak, at 1:51
7. Saul Raisin, Credit Agricole, at 2:56
8. Fabian Jeker, Saunier Duval, at 3:16
9. Patrik Sinkewitz, Quickstep, at 3:16
10. Wim Van Huffel, Davitamon-Lotto, at 3:58

FullResults