Second Amgen Tour Of California Includes Sacramento Capitol Stage Finish
The second Amgen Tour of California will be held Feb. 18-25 and will feature a course of more than 650 miles that will extend from San Francisco to Long Beach.
Beginning with a traditional prologue through the streets of downtown San Francisco and traveling over the next week on a newly created course, the event will includes 18 domestic and international teams of eight riders each
The field will compete in 12 host cities: Sausalito, Santa Rosa, Sacramento (new in 2007), Stockton (new in 2007), San Jose, Seaside (new in 2007), San Luis Obispo, Solvang (new in 2007), Santa Barbara, Santa Clarita (new in 2007) and Long Beach (new in 2007).
The Sacramento stop, stage 2, will begin Tuesday, Feb. 20 in Santa Rosa and is expected to conclude at approximately 2:30 p.m. The field will ride into Sacramento via the Tower Bridge and conclude the stage with three laps on surface streets around the State Capitol.
The complete list of competing riders won't be announced until near race day, but the complete roster of teams has been confirmed. Several top riders, including reigning world titlist Paolo Bettini of Italy, George Hincapie of Greenville, S.C., David Zabriskie of Salt Lake City, Utah, Levi Leipheimer of Santa Rosa, Calif., and 2006 double stage winner J.J. Haedo of Argentina, have announced their participation.
Floyd Landis of Murrieta, Calif., who won the inaugural race by 29 seconds over Zabriskie and by 34 seconds over Bobby Julich (CSC) of Reno, will likely not defend 2006 title. In addition to his current positive drug test announcement following the Tour de France, Landis will also soon undergone hip replacement surgery.
2007 TOUR OF CALIFORNIA SCHEDULE
• Prologue: Sunday, Feb. 18 - San Francisco
• Stage 1: Monday, Feb. 19 - Sausalito to Santa Rosa
• Stage 2: Tuesday, Feb. 20 - Santa Rosa to Sacramento
• Stage 3: Wednesday, Feb. 21 - Stockton to San Jose
• Stage 4: Thursday, Feb. 22 - Seaside to San Luis Obispo
• Stage 5: Friday, Feb. 23 - Solvang time trial
• Stage 6: Saturday, Feb. 24 - Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita
• Stage 7: Sunday, Feb. 25 - Long Beach circuit race
For more information, visit: www.amgentourofcalifornia.com
2006 TOUR OF CALIFORNIA RESULTS
1. Floyd Landis, Murrieta, Phonak, 22 hours, 46 minutes,46 seconds.
2. David Zabriskie, Salt Lake City, Utah, CSC, 29 seconds behind.
3. Bobby Julich, Reno, CSC, :34.
4. George Hincapie, Greenville, S.C., Discovery Channel, :45.
5. Nathan O'Neill, Australia, Health Net, 1:08.
6. Levi Leipheimer, Santa Rosa, Gerolsteiner, 1:10.
7. Cadel Evans, Australia, Davitamon-Lotto, 1:29.
8. Thomas Danielson, Durango, Colo., Discovery Channel, 1:49.
9. Christian Vande Velde, Lemont, Ill., CSC, 1:55.
10. Jason McCartney, Coralville, Iowa, Discovery Channel, 1:58.
2006 STAGE RESULTS
Prologue: Levi Leipheimer.
Stage 1: Juan Jose Haedo; Race Leader, Levi Leipheimer.
Stage 2: George Hincapie; Race Leader, George Hincapie.
Stage 3: Floyd Landis, Race Leader, Floyd Landis.
Stage 4: Juan Jose Haedo; Race Leader, Floyd Landis.
Stage 5: George Hincapie; Race Leader, Floyd Landis.
Stage 6: Olaf Pollack; Race Winner, Floyd Landis.
Sacramento blogger James Raia is a freelance writer and publisher. Visit his web sites, ByJamesRaia.com, TheWeeklyDriver.com and GolfTribune.com.
