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The Amgen Tour of California was held from February 19-26, 2006. Finally after a long absence professional bicycle stage racing finally came back to the California coast. The world's top professional teams came and competed over a span of eight days over a distance of 700 miles. The route included the California redwoods, wine country and the beautiful Pacific Coast.
The tour served a good purpose to raise funds for cancer care and treatment. I enjoyed the opportunity to follow the race and watch portions of the Prologue, 1st and 2nd stages of the Tour of California in Northern California. Enjoy the pictures of some of the super stars of professional bicycle racing. Dave McGrath-Wagner |
| Prologue: Sunday, Feb. 19, 2006, San Francisco, CA |
| Riders opened up the competition with a short, intense Prologue through the streets of San Francisco. Starting by the Ferry Building at Pier 1, the 1.9-mile course will run along the Embarcardero until making the sharp left onto Bay Street that will bring the riders up the tight and steep climb through Telegraph Hill to the finish at Coit Tower. |
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| Levi Leipheimer won the the Tour of California Prologue. The route featured a nasty little climb up to Coit Tower and most of the international racers simply didn't measure up. Bobby Julich and George Hincapie finished 2nd and 3rd putting Americans on every step of the podium. |
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| Pictured above is the Levi Leipheimer with the Governor of California. Levi wins the time trial competition. |
| Stage One: Monday, Feb. 20, 2006, Sausalito, CA |
| The start of Stage One took place in downtown Sausalito, CA located in Marin County across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, CA. The distance for stage one was 84 miles from Sausalito, CA to Santa Rosa, CA. The course went along Highway 1 going through the Marin Headlands, flanked on both sides by national parkland, before leaving the Point Reyes National Seashore for the race’s first sprint competition line in Point Reyes. After crossing into Sonoma, spectators can watch the race for the stage win unfold as the field completes three laps of a technical finishing circuit in downtown Santa Rosa. Pictures below are of the racers riding on Highway 1 along the coast a few miles south of Stinsen Beach, CA. |
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| Stage 1 of the AMGEN Tour of California was won by Juan Jose Haedo. Olaf Pollack and Stuart O'Grady finished 2nd and 3rd in Santa Rose, CA. |
| Stage Two: Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2006, Martinez, CA |
| The stage race starts heading southward to San Jose, CA. The race started with two neutral parade laps and left the City of Martinez, CA. This stage was a hilly ride through the East Bay that brought the race over its first significant climb about 22 miles before the finish line in downtown San Jose, CA. The climb on the Sierra Road portion of the course is a first Category One (highest ranked in order of difficulty) ascent in the King of the Mountains competition. The photos below taken at the starting line of the race in Martinez, CA. |
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| Pictures below of some of the racers on Sierra Road before the race ends in San Jose, CA. |
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| Floyd Landis won the Inaugural Amgen Tour of California followed by David Zabriskie and Bobby Julich for 2nd and 3rd place. I enjoyed the experience of watching some of the best racers in the world. The Tour broke attendance records for sports events in California. Reports have it that the race got good marks from cycling fans along with sponsors of the event. I'm hopeful the race event will continue to be successful for another running in 2007. There were more than 1.3 million spectators for the entire route of the tour. |
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