Ending weeks of speculation, promoter AEG announced on Oct. 7 that Solvang would again be a host city for the 2011 Amgen Tour of California, a professional cycling road race.
An individual time trial is scheduled for May 20, 2011, in Solvang, one of 15 cities through which the tour will officially travel over the course of eight days: May 15 to 22.
The race, now in its sixth year, will wind through 800 miles of California terrain, beginning with a first-ever visit to Lake Tahoe and extending through some of the state’s most scenic landmarks—including Donner Pass and Big Sur—with a finish in Thousand Oaks.
Solvang joins other official stage start and finish locations, including Sacramento, San Jose, Paso Robles, Mt. Baldy, and Santa Clarita.
The Tour of California has set attendance records for a single sporting event in the state, drawing more than two million spectators in previous years. It’s also drawn some of the world’s most renowned riders, such as top Tour de France competitors, world champions, and Olympic medalists like Lance Armstrong, Tom Boonen, Oscar Freire, Paolo Bettini, Fabian Cancellara, Carlos Sastre, Ivan Basso, George Hincapie, Mark Cavendish, and Andy Schleck.
“For our team, there’s only one race more important to us than the Amgen Tour of California, and that’s the Tour de France,” Australian Michael Rogers said after winning the 2010 race. “This is a huge result for us. We can really walk away from the 2010 Amgen Tour of California with big smiles on our faces.”
Amgen, a global biotechnology company, will use the race to raise awareness for its Breakaway From Cancer initiative.
For more information, including a complete tour map, visit amgentourofcalifornia.com.
Sports Shorts is compiled by Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, e-mail, or mail.
This article appears in Oct 14-21, 2010.