Posted: November 24, 2005

Cycling: Inagural Tour of California Will Feature World's Top Cyclists

From: www.ByJamesRaia.com

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- The inaugural Tour of California, scheduled for Feb. 19-26, 2006, will include 128 riders from international and domestic men's teams and will cover more than 700 miles.

The event will begin with a prologue (a short individual time trial) in San Francisco and advance with stages in Sausalito, Santa Rosa, Martinez, San Jose, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Thousand Oaks before concluding in Redondo Beach.

Tour of California race organizers said the route will change every year.

Sixteen teams, half of which participated in this year's Tour de France, will race for $150,000 in prize money.

Exact course routes and the complete field of squads won't be announced for another two months. But international teams such as Discovery Channel, the former squad of seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, Germany's Gerolsteiner and T-Mobile, Phonak of Switzerland, Davitamon-Lotto of Belgium and Saunier Duval-Prodir of Spain have confirmed their involvement.

North American-based teams Health Net and Navigators Insurance also will participate.

"I want to thank everyone who put all their blood, sweat and tears into this event," said Santa Rosa's Levi Leipheimer, the leader of the Gerolsteiner team that finished sixth in July in the Tour de France.

"The Tour de France is getting nervous. This is really going to be the biggest cycling event in the world. I wouldn't be here if I didn't think so."

Six more international ProTour teams, including CSC of Denmark, the world's No. 1-ranked team, and two other domestic-based squads are pending.

The new event gives the West Coast its first highly ranked international stage race since the Coors Classic, which ended in 1989.

The Tour of California, which was announced in March during the World Track Cycling Championships in Carson, had approval, sanction and dates on the Union Cycliste Internationale calendar, but it didn't have a route, a title sponsor or any committed teams.

During Wednesday's news conference, which involved cities' politicians and chamber of commerce representatives, Amgen was announced as the title sponsor.

Based in Thousand Oaks, Amgen develops medicines, including erythropoietin (EPO), for the treatment of cancer, kidney disease and other serious illnesses. EPO also has been used illegally to enhance athletic performance.

The Tour of California is owned by AEG, which owns the Los Angeles Kings, the San Jose Earthquakes, Staples Center and the Home Depot Center.

AEG has committed $35 million to the Tour of California for the next five years, according to Timothy J. Leiweke, the company's CEO and president.

"We've had a lot of questions like, 'What are you going to do after Lance?' " said Sean Petty, the chief of staff for USA Cycling. "This is a perfect time to launch this event and provide us a platform for this sport like we've never had in this country."

© Copyright 2005, James Raia

Posted with the permission of James Raia.

James Raia is a journalist, author and publisher in Sacramento, California. Sign-up for his free electronic newsletters Endurance Sports News and Tour de France Times on his web site: www.ByJamesRaia.com.