Armstrong, Len Zanni and Max Taam completed 17 laps of the race’s twisting 7-mile circuit, finishing their last lap at 6:55 p.m. That was enough for a six-minute victory ahead of second-placed Team Beaver Creek, which included longtime mountain bike pros Jay Henry, Mike Kloser and Dave Wiens, the man who vanquished Armstrong back in August at the Leadville 100.

Afterwards, Armstrong and his teammates were the obvious center of attention at a well-attended podium presentation. Then the world’s best known bike racer was swarmed by a mix of local and national media (even L’Equipe was there) for what amounted to his first public interview since announcing his return to racing last week.

He wasn’t willing to read too much into his latest triumph, but a win is a win.

“It’s hard to even compare the two,” said Armstrong when asked what the day might mean as he looks ahead to an eventual return to the pro peloton and racing the Tour de France. “One is road, one is offroad. This a format that I’ve never done before. But nevertheless it’s similar that you have a team and without these guys, I would not have been successful. I certainly wasn’t the strongest guy in the race and these two guys made up for that.

Indeed, Henry, a former NORBA-level mountain biker who rode for Specialized, beat Armstrong about a minute on the first lap of the day. But Henry and company could not hold on, and saw their slim lead turn into a 10-minute deficit before trimming it back to six minutes at the end.

All text by Jason Sumner @ velonews.com)

Relay team starting order match ups
Livestrong		vs		Team Beaver Creek
	Lap 1 -- 39:44 Lap 2 -- 39:25 Lap 3 -- 40:32 Lap 4 -- 40:32 Lap 5 -- 41:07 Lap 6 -- 41:00		Lap 1 -- 38:57 Lap 2 -- 39:53 Lap 3 -- 40:08 Lap 4 -- 40:23 Lap 5 -- 40:36 Lap 6 -- 42:25
Lance Armstrong		vs		Jay Henry
	Lap 1 -- 41:08 Lap 2 -- 41:19 Lap 3 -- 44:17 Lap 4 -- 42:15 Lap 5 -- 43:48 Lap 6 -- 44:33		Lap 1 -- 41:56 Lap 2 -- 42:57 Lap 3 -- 43:12 Lap 4 -- 43:25 Lap 5 -- 43:17 Lap 6 -- 42:10
Len Zanni		vs		Mike Kloser
	Lap 1-- 41:40 Lap 2-- 41:19 Lap 3 -- 44:17 Lap 4-- 42:53 Lap 5 -- 43:56		Lap 1 -- 43:06 Lap 2 -- 42:57 Lap 3 -- 43:12 Lap 4 -- 46:31 Lap 5 -- 41:51
Max Taam		vs		Dave Wiens

 More photos with commentary on the way. Can't wait? Check raw shots in the PHOTO GALLERY

7 am: Lance Armstrong on the starting line of the 12 Hours of Snowmass
Jay Henry, Lance Armstrong and solo racer Yuki Saito start their first lap
Henry pulls ahead on first lap
Lance trails Henry by less than a minute
Henry sets fastest lap of the race and tags off to Kloser
Len Zanni tags off from Armstrong, chases Kloser
Kloser holds narrow lead
Zanni closes on Kloser
Zanni and Kloser enter start/finish at same time
Zanni tags Taam
Taam starting his first lap as Kloser tags off with Wiens
Taam hammers, puts gap on Wiens
Lance Armstrong and Jay Henry prepare for lap two
45 seconds ahead, Taam tags off to Armstrong
Armstrong on course
Wiens tags Henry
Henry chases
Lance puts down the hammer
The view most competitors got of Armstrong on course
Armstrong halfway through a lap
Henry at 3:00 minutes behind Armstrong
Armstrong in pit row
Henry passing to Kloser
Dave Wiens in pit row
Team Livestrong's Max Taam on course
Max tags off to Lance
Armstrong on singletrack
Armstrong finishing up a lap
Armstrong finishes sixth lap, Zanni goes out on last lap.
Kloser frantically tightening cranks before final lap
Kloser needs to ride a 42:25 lap to finich under the 12 hour time limit and to make Beaver Creek's 16th lap count.
Len Zanni, Max Taam, and Lance Armstrong moments after Zanni completed Team Livestrong's 16th lap
Zanni celebrating with daughter Grace
Kloser coming in hot, posts time of 42:10, giving Team Beaver Creek 16 laps, with 15 seconds before the 12 hour cut off.
Team Beaver Creek: Dave Wiens, Mike Kloser, and Jay Henry
Team Livestrong: Len Zanni, Lance Armstrong, and Max Taam atop the podium.
Lance's post race interview
Chris Carmichael talks about Lance's Training