Starting with State 1, which began in Grass Valley (insert Rickey Williams jokes here please) half of the 8 Amgen stages include parts of the Central Valley and include the cities of Sacramento, Davis, Modesto, Visalia and Bakersfield. Included among the riders in this year's Amgen tour are World Road Titlist Tom Boonen, 4-Time Amgen winner Levi Leipiheimer, 2009 Tour de France Runner up Andy Schleck and yes, 7-time Tour de France Winner (and a guy who deserved an Oscar for his role in "Dodgeball")...Lance Armstrong.
For those of you who want to catch the action, while the Sacramento and Davis portions of the tour have been completed, the riders will roll into Modesto to finish stage 4 on Wednesday, and make the trek from Visalia to Bakersfield for stage 5 on Thursday. This is an event not to be missed, after all, how often do you get to see world class athletes go for a nice leisurely (ok, maybe not so leisurely) bike ride through the roads of the Central Valley? So what say you Spot fans? If you're in the area, stop by and check out the Amgen Tour. The more support we give events like the Amgen Tour, the more likely it is that they'll return for our Valley sporting pleasure the next year. Plus, its our chance to tell the French that yes, per usual, we can do anything better than you...bike races included!
I like the change this year to May, AToC spent the first 4 years earlier in the season, just not sure we'll see weather that's any different than February.
ReplyDeleteI have seen a few stages in the past and think that a start is better to be at than a finish. Usually have better access to riders.
This year I am cheering on Team Saxo Bank but always root on Levi!