Good news if you live in the Valley...
* Stage 1, Saturday, Feb. 14 – Sacramento
* Stage 2, Sunday, Feb. 15 – Davis to Santa Rosa
* Stage 3, Monday, Feb. 16 – Sausalito to Santa Cruz
* Stage 4, Tuesday, Feb. 17 – San Jose to Modesto
* Stage 5, Wednesday, Feb. 18 – Merced to Clovis
* Stage 6, Thursday, Feb. 19 – Visalia to Paso Robles
* Stage 7, Friday, Feb. 20 – Solvang (individual time trial)
* Stage 8, Saturday, Feb. 21 – Santa Clarita to Pasadena
* Stage 9, Sunday, Feb. 22 – Rancho Bernardo to Escondido

Big news for Sac and Davis! :D

Stage 1 is supposed to do some parade laps downtown, then head out for 80 miles, then come back in. It'd be cool if they'd head out east towards the foothills. I wonder if Stage 4 will reverse the route they took last year? Sierra Road first, then Mt Hamilton?

Does this mean the race will go across the GG Bridge? KILLER!
I can hardly wait for the maps.

Does this mean the race will go across the GG Bridge? KILLER!
I can hardly wait for the maps.

Yep. Beginning of Stage 3:


http://www.steephill.tv/tour-of-california/




stan
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I'm soo excited!!

It's Valentine's Day too...hope your SO's like bike racing!! :D

I think I'm calling in sick on Feb 14th and 15th...*cough* *cough*

Race start in Sac is going to be AWESOME

I am pretty excited for the Sacramento stage..I might even go to the Davis stage.

Yeah, looks pretty cool with totally different routes this year.

First 3 stages are president's day weekend, so I plan to go to all 3.

Heck, may as well take Tuesday off too and make it a 4 day weekend. I hope they go over Hamilton on the way to Modesto.

No Mt. Hamilton? Are there any mountains on the route?

No Mt. Hamilton? Are there any mountains on the route?

San Jose to Modesto, I assume will go over Hamilton.

San Jose to Modesto, I assume will go over Hamilton.

Yeah, maybe Sierra too but things would come together before the sprint in Modesto... what a waste of good hills.

I think this course stinks.
1. No prologue... less fun.

2. GGB stage is just a gimmick, they'll probably have a police protected parade though Frisco and then turn 'em loose in Half Moon Bay or something. There was a stage of the Tour de Trump that did 25 miles of Fred pace in NYC before they dropped the flag in New Jersey

3. Sierra foothills stage ends in Clovis - there's a nice advertisement for California tourism.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't there never been a mountain finish in the history of the race?

Personally, I think Diablo would be roughly the greatest finish line in the history of professional cycling. Even Alpe d'Huez flattens out at the top.

Peloton on GG Bridge will yield some truly spectacular aerials.

Some of the transfers are STUPID long. Paso to Solvang (2.5-3 hours), Solvang to Santa Clarita (3 hours), Pasadena to Rancho Bernardo (4.5 hours).

If they're going to do 80 miles outside of Sacramento, that's not quite enough to do a Folsom Lake loop. But there are some nice rollers towards El Dorado Hill and Jackson.

They're talking about having a women's pro crit around the Capitol while the peleton is out on the road. Please, please, please have a Cat 4 men's race too!

I am taking the whole week off. So much right in my backyard :love:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't there never been a mountain finish in the history of the race?

Personally, I think Diablo would be roughly the greatest finish line in the history of professional cycling. Even Alpe d'Huez flattens out at the top.

Actually prologue or TT up Mt. Diablo sounds nice.

That Sausalito->Santa Cruz stage is gonna be cool :)

I'm going to miss the PA prologue. It was nice to see all the teams riding around in the area the week before, guess now I'll have to head up to Sac. Hopefully Sierra Rd. is in the mix again, that was a good section to watch at.

Actually prologue or TT up Mt. Diablo sounds nice.

They've got to think race strategy and they have to be realistic. Right now seems like they're mostly considering how to make the most money for the most host cities.

2009 ToC looks like it'll be decided by the ITT, just like every previous edition.

The hills are really fun for fans, but they just haven't been very effective at making a selection for GC.

Circuit races and downtown finishes are fun and profitable for the host cities, but again, not very strategic.

Imagine this: Start in the Southland with a prologue and a couple sprinters' stages, have an ITT about Stage 3, work north with a penultimate stage that finishes on top of Diablo (or even Junction so everyone can get back down easier) and then a circuit race around Sac for a finale and photos with Arnold. That would require true Grand Tour competition to win.

Walnut Creek could be the host city for the end of the Diablo stage (maybe the route could be around the Mountain and WC could be the start city as well?) and after the finish they would have the podium ceremony and Expo at Heather Farms or something.

...Right now seems like they're mostly considering how to make the most money for the most host cities....Walnut Creek could be the host city for the end of the Diablo stage (maybe the route could be around the Mountain and WC could be the start city as well?) and after the finish they would have the podium ceremony and Expo at Heather Farms or something.

Typically a city has to sell the orgainizers on why they should be able to host a start or finish. It took a lot of work, I mean A LOT OF WORK two years ago to get our town to host a start.

Clovis will look good on TV, what with it's old west look small town thing going. In reality the place is the pits, right next to Fresno but without the charm....

heh, yeah, Clovis is pretty bad.

Sausalito to Santa Cruz, then San Jose to Modesto? Strange geographical decisions there, unless they decide to do something like Kings Mountain, or Big Basin.

I'm dating myself but didn't Clovis have a really great HS basketball team in the 80s?

I've missed it the last two times it's come through Sacramento (I don't follow racing, bicycle or otherwise), but I may have to try to get out there this time.

Speculating about the finish of stage 3.

I would have figured that the stage 3 route would showcase the coast, and maybe it will, but the map (http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/Route/map.html) suggests that the route will go into the mountains after San Francisco, then descending to Santa Cruz. The coastal route into Santa Cruz would mean the heavily trafficked Mission St would have to be closed, which gives more hope for the mountain route.

I figure the route would descend Hwy 9, which could go straight through downtown Santa Cruz before finishing by the Boardwalk, or something like that.

Or, what I'd like to see, would be to go through Big Basin, climbing Jamison Creek, descending Empire Grade and finishing at UCSC or descending Bay St to finish by the Boardwalk.

Looks like Santa Rosa could not come up with the $$$ to have a finish and start both. So I only get one T-shirt this year instead of two.

Speculating about the finish of stage 3.

Or, what I'd like to see, would be to go through Big Basin, climbing Jamison Creek, descending Empire Grade and finishing at UCSC or descending Bay St to finish by the Boardwalk.I was thinking along the same lines, down PCH, up Tunitas Creek, Skyline to Hwy 9, and then through Big Basin, as you indicated.

Skyline and Big Basin seems unlikely for stage 3. It sounds like the route will be mostly along the coast: http://www.mercurynews.com/centralcoast/ci_9980669. BJM's route going up Bonny Doon Rd, Smith Grade, then down Empire Grade would be pretty cool, though.

Just from the descriptions provided so far, seems like a boring route. Hopefully they won't abandon Sierra Road ...

What's keeping them from going into the Sierras??? Plenty of good stuff up there, i.e. Markleeville, Cedar Grove, Lake Tahoe, etc.

What's keeping them from going into the Sierras??? Plenty of good stuff up there, i.e. Markleeville, Cedar Grove, Lake Tahoe, etc.

You mean besides the snow?:innocent:

JB

What's keeping them from going into the Sierras??? Plenty of good stuff up there, i.e. Markleeville, Cedar Grove, Lake Tahoe, etc.

How many of these roads are open in February? It is too bad they couldn't get a better slot on the UCI calendar.

You mean besides the snow?:innocent:

JB

:roflmao2: sh*t never mind I forgot. :lol::cry:

:roflmao2: sh*t never mind I forgot. :lol::cry:

Well, I guess there is a precedent:

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee39/jonathanb715/CRW_4839.jpg

JB

Way cool! I can ride to a couple stages, too. One of my best friends lives in Escondido -- I may pay her a visit, heh, heh. ;)

How exciting!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't there never been a mountain finish in the history of the race?

Personally, I think Diablo would be roughly the greatest finish line in the history of professional cycling. Even Alpe d'Huez flattens out at the top.

(1) No, there has not been a mountain-top finish.

(2) I agree that a stage finish at the top of Diablo would be tremendous - have the racers go up the "down" road at the very top, which leaves them able to go down the "up" road to the big parking area, which should be plenty big for the team busses. (Sort of like they do for the Diablo Challenge.)

But I suspect it won't happen. I don't think any major team would want to subject their top guns to a mountain top finish, especially one that long that just . . . keeps . . . getting . . . steeper, so early in the season. It's bad enough having having hard climbs in the middle of a stage (Del Puerto and Hamilton), or at least having a descent and some flat run-in to the stage finish (Sierra Road), but having the hammer go totally down on Diablo with no time to fight back or limit damage - I just don't see the major teams allowing their leaders do that in February.

I don't think any major team would want to subject their top guns to a mountain top finish, especially one that long that just . . . keeps . . . getting . . . steeper, so early in the season.

The final stage finishes on top of Mt. Palomar... longer and steeper than Diablo.

Highlights of next year's route:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=features/2008/tour_of_california_jul08

The final stage finishes on top of Mt. Palomar... longer and steeper than Diablo.

Oh . . . .

Never mind. :o

For stage 3: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/sports/ci_10843917

It looks like Tunitas Creek, Haskins Hill, and Bonny Doon are possible climbs for the route.