American Dave Zabriskie takes Tour of California lead "I came out here in February and videotaped the course," Zabriskie said. I had a few spots where I wanted to soft pedal but maintain speed. It sounds weird, but you can do it. The turnaround was one of those spots. "This was a really good course for me," added Zabriskie, who also won the time trial last year and finished second overall in the event in 2010. Any course where I don't have to get out of the aerobars is good for me. I really liked the course. Robert Gesink of the Netherlands is third overall, 39 seconds behind. Zabriskie is hopeful to be the sole U.S. time trial representative in the London Olympics. "It's getting close to the time when they are going to have make a choice," said Zabriskie. And I wanted to have a good performance. He eased at the line, saluting race fans for his four days in the lead. Last year's champion Chris Horner of the United States is 32nd overall, trailing by 2:50. The eight-stage event continues on Friday with the 186.3-kilometre Palmdale to Big Bear Lake sixth stage, the first of two mountain consecutive mountain stages. The race ends on Sunday in Los Angeles.