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Amgen Tour of California 2010
By Bob Roll

It’s amazing to think that next year will only be the fifth Tour of California. In a very short period of time it has equaled and in some cases eclipsed many European races that are up to 100 years old. The Amgen Tour of California is the biggest bicycle race in America and has become a must do event for all professional cyclists and a must see for bike fans all over the world. Having established itself as such a prestigious event is akin to watching a meteorite streaking across the sky. The incredible growth has been propelled by the dominance of Levi Leipheimer, the participation of Lance Armstrong and the spectacular natural beauty of California, but the main catalyst remains the fervor on the part of the fans that flock to the Tour of California to the tune of 2 million people. This has given California a multi-million dollar boost to the state budget in spite of a difficult economic climate, of course Levi Leipheimer has announced already that he will return to defend his title in 2010.

He will face tough competition however from George Hincapie who has recently joined a new team BMC. Also challenging Levi will be Dave Zabriskie, who was second last year and finished off this year’s bicycling season with an impressive win at the Tour of Missouri, his first ever win in a stage race. Of course joining Levi for Team Radio Shack will be Lance Armstrong, the man who all eyes follow no matter what race he is in.

The major difference from previous years in next year’s TOC is that it has moved from February to May. I believe that the Amgen folks were very smart to initially have the race in February so as not to compete with the European major races and thus be able to invite the best teams and racers from Europe, but now that the race is so well established I think they have also been wise to move the race to a more reasonable time of the season. The quandary for most pros in the past at the Amgen Tour of California was that to be competitive you had to reach a really high athletic peak long before the height of the season. Because the race is so massive one could guarantee a solid standard of living by doing well , but in order to reach such a high peak in February , your form will probably suffer the rest of the year, but now that the Tour of California is in May we will see the best riders be at their best and none will have to worry that they have peeked too early. Also, the organizers of the event have provided the two toughest stages at the end of the race. The May dates allow the Amgen Tour of California to go into the Sierra Nevada mountains with the stage 6 ascent to the ski town of Big Bear Lake. The Amgen Tour of California has never had a stage featuring a mountain top finish and I guarantee that this stage will be absolute pandemonium. The day after is an Individual time trial in downtown Los Angeles that will provide us with a champion truly worthy of being called the King of California.

Before that final Time Trial there will be plenty of tough stages and the race will finish with a tough circuit around the hills near Amgens headquarters in Thousand Oaks. Versus network will be there to capture every exciting moment and the Amgen Tour of California is not to be missed by any stretch of the imagination. It’s fantastic to have an event in the United States that is equal to all of the great cycling events in Europe and is a true testament to the passion to our fans and excellence of our racers.

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