Inga's Adventures

The route of the 2010 Amgen Tour of California will start in the Sierra, providing a beautiful backdrop of mountainous terrain before dropping down to Sacramento, heading generally south. The San Francisco stage will start from Pier 30/32 and cover the route of the Bay to Breakers footrace, which will happen a couple of days before the Tour. The middle of the Tour will loop from the Central Valley back to the Sierra in Sequoia National Forest, then down to Bakersfield. Another mountain stage will take place at Big Bear ski resort before the Tour descends into Los Angeles and its conclusion in Thousand Oaks.

Significant changes have been made to the Amgen Tour of California, including a major shift in the calendar. Instead of the traditional February start, the tour will be held May 16-23, competing directly with the prestigious international race, Giro d’Italia. The revised timing allows the race to cycle through areas of California, such as the new mountain stages, that would be impossible in winter due to heavy snows. Other changes include elimination of both the prologue and Golden Gate Bridge crossing.

The host cities were announced October 22 via Twitter, marking the first time an event of this stature has been announced on the social networking site. The Twitter exchange took place between California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and four of America’s premier riders, Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, Dave Zabriskie and George Hincapie, who simultaneously announced their participation in the esteemed race. Race organizers and fans are particularly enthusiastic about Lance Armstrong, seven time Tour De France winner, returning to the race, though fans are also keen to see local Santa Rosa cyclist and three time winner of the Tour of California, Levi Leipheimer, compete.

In the Twitter exchange, Governor Schwarzenegger sent this tweet at 8:31 on October 22, “Great news for American cycling fans and CA. The 2010 Amgen Tour of California will be better than ever. @lancearmstrong will you join us?”. Lance Armstrong responded, “Absolutely! @schwarzenegger, I’ve decided to ride the #Amgen Tour of California in 2010. Can’t wait. What about you @levileipheimer??.” Levi Leipheimer countered with, “I’ll definitely be racing the 2010 Amgen Tour of California. Defending my title. @ghincapie?”. Not to be left out, George Hincapie responded, “I will be riding the 2010 Amgen Tour of California as national road champ, wearing the stars and stripes…. How about you @dzabriskie?.” As you might expect, Dave Zabriskie answered with, “2010 Amgen Tour of California – I will be there as national time trial champ.” Follow the tour on Twitter.

Amgen, returning as the title sponsor for the fifth consecutive year, is a leading biotechnology company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California, the host city for the last stage of the race. According to Stuart Arbuckle, vice president, Amgen Oncology, “We look forward to collaborating with this year’s host cities to promote the Breakaway from Cancer initiative in their communities”, referring to the initiative to educate people about advances in medicine made possible through biotechnology and support cancer support organizations and cancer survivors.

Here is the list of stages for the 2010 Amgen Tour of California:

Stage 1: Sunday, May 16 – Nevada City to Sacramento
Stage 2: Monday, May 17 – Davis to Santa Rosa
Stage 3: Tuesday, May 18 – San Francisco to Santa Cruz
Stage 4: Wednesday, May 19 – San Jose to Modesto
Stage 5: Thursday, May 20 – Visalia to Bakersfield
Stage 6: Friday, May 21 – Pasadena to Big Bear Lake
Stage 7: Saturday, May 22 – Los Angeles (individual time trial)
Stage 8: Sunday, May 23 – Thousand Oaks/Westlake Village/Agoura Hills