Amgen Tour of California presents 2016 route
On Thursday the organizers of the Tour of California released the course for the 11th edition, which runs from May 15-22. The race travels south to north this year.
On Thursday the organizers of the Tour of California released the course for the 11th edition, which runs from May 15-22. The race travels south to north this year. Traditional summit finishes have made way for a different peak in Santa Barbara County, San Diego is part of the race for the first time and the Laguna Seca Racetrack hosts a finish.
The yellow leader’s jersey has a subtle checkering in an homage to Laguna Seca.
New @Champion_System leader jersey! Special offer on limited edition jersey: LIMITED25 https://t.co/LE4Xqfj2o9 pic.twitter.com/z0kzoHIuph
— AmgenTOC (@AmgenTOC) January 28, 2016
The men’s Tour kicks off its eight stages in San Diego on May 15 with a 177-km route that begins and ends at Mission Bay and takes in some rolling hills in the eastern part of San Diego County.
After a day that starts in Pasadena and travels through some of Los Angeles County and the San Gabriel Mountains comes the first summit finish of Stage 3. Beginning in Thousand Oaks the 169-km stage finishes on the Gibraltar Road climb in Santa Barbara County. This brutish 9.8-km, 8% clamber will go a long way in determining the winner.
The next day’s Monterey County finish is set on Laguna Seca Racetrack’s famous corkscrew. Stage 5 sees the return to heavy climbing as the peloton faces 223-km from Lodi to South Lake Tahoe, with a long ascent into the Sierras. Stage 5 is when the women’s race begins with a 117-km circuit of Lake Tahoe and an uphill finish.
Stage 6 is the race’s time trial in Folsom, a 20-km route that crosses the wonderfully-named Johnny Cash Bike Bridge. The men will race individually while the women will roll the course in a team time trial.
The penultimate day takes place in Santa Rosa. The men and women both tackle the Coleman Valley Road climb, the men on a 153-km loop and the women on a 111-km circuit.
The finale is in Sacramento where the women will race a 20-lap criterium and the men battle over a 136-km circuit.
Last year Peter Sagan (Slovakia/Tinkoff) nabbed the win from Julian Alaphilippe (France/Etixx-QuickStep) on the final stage in Pasadena. In the women’s race Trixi Worrack (Germany/Velocio) finished atop Canadian Leah Kirchmann (Optum) by five seconds.
