SOUTH LAKE TAHOE – At age 37, Levi Leipheimer represents cycling's old guard. The three-time Amgen Tour of California winner hopes to school the up-and-comers when the sixth annual race begins today.

Tejay Van Garderen, 22, comes from a younger generation of riders. With 10 U.S. titles already on his résumé, he defers to no one.

But before a small group of accomplished veterans and a handful of talented young riders battle for the overall title in the eight-day race, weather could dominate today's opening stage.

While plans call for a 118.7-mile ride from South Lake Tahoe to Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort, a forecast calling for 1-2 inches of snow and ridge gusts up to 65 mph could prompt race officials to alter the opening-day route.

Possibilities include eliminating the Northstar finish and reducing the stage to a prologue along part of Lake Tahoe, delaying the 10:30 a.m. start a few hours in hopes of better weather or, in a worst case-scenario, canceling the stage.

Another option race officials are considering is having riders go through a ceremonial ride through South Lake Tahoe, then be transported near the finish for a ceremonial ride into Northstar.

The Stage 2 schedule Monday calls for a 133.2-mile ride from Squaw Valley to Sacramento, with two circuits around the state Capitol leading to an expected sprint finish at 11th and L streets.

When the peloton settles into racing, riders will keep an eye on Leipheimer, who starts the event with a powerful Team RadioShack lineup and a strong desire to earn his fourth Amgen crown.

Leipheimer won in 2007, 2008 and 2009 before finishing third last year behind winner Michael Rogers and runner-up David Zabriskie.

"The Tour of California has always been a big goal of mine every year," said Leipheimer, who lives in Santa Rosa. "I always seem to find that extra motivation in training.

"Every day, whether it's rain or shine, I've had the race in mind. I've had an up-and-down year, but the last month has been good."

Other veterans hoping to contend include Team Garmin-Cervelo's Zabriskie, 32, Christian Vande Velde, 34, and Ryder Hesjedal, 30; Team RadioShack's Chris Horner, 39; Leopard Trek's Jens Voigt, 39; and BMC Racing's George Hincapie, 37.

The youth brigade includes HTC-Highroad's Van Garderen; Garmin-Cervelo's Dan Martin, 24, and Andrew Talansky, 22; BMC's Taylor Phinney, 20; and Team RadioShack's Ben King, 22.

"I would put myself as one of the favorites for the GC (general classification)," said Van Garderen. "I'm going to try to win."

The veterans will try to stop that effort.

RadioShack's Leipheimer and Horner, and Garmin-Cervelo's Zabriskie, Vande Velde and Hesjedal, in particular, should enjoy strong team support.

But the newcomers take pride in knocking off cycling's more established stars.

"I don't like to say we enjoy beating up on the older guys, but we definitely have a couple of private smiles afterward when we get better results than the guys who have been dominating the sport for a while," Phinney said.

The wild card in the overall race is Leopard Trek's Andy Schleck, the runner-up in the Tour de France the last two years. Once again, the 25-year-old is using the Tour of California to prepare for cycling's biggest race.

"It's not a big secret if I tell you my big goal is Tour de France," said Schleck, whose climbing skills should help him fare well in the Tour of California's two mountaintop finishes.

"If I have a chance to win a stage, I'm not going to sit back," Schleck said. I'm going to fight. I feel pretty good."

This year's key stages likely will be the Stage 4 mountaintop finish on Sierra Road in San Jose, the Stage 6 time trial in Solvang and the Stage 7 mountaintop finish on Mount Baldy.

Phil Liggett, a longtime British broadcaster and journalist who provides commentary for Versus television coverage, said Leipheimer, who finished third in the 2007 Tour de France, remains the rider to beat.

"Levi will win the time trial in Solvang, he'll finish them off on Mount Baldy, and we'll celebrate his victory in Thousand Oaks," Liggett said.

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