The nation’s largest cycling race begins this weekend, and its route again includes some Central, and South Coast communities.
Race organizers and riders gathered in San Diego today to kick off the Amgen Tour of California. This year’s Amgen Tour is a more than 700 mile event which will start in San Diego on Sunday, and end in Sacramento a week later, with some of the world’s top cyclists taking part. Many of the Amgen tour riders will go on to compete in this year’s summer Olympics in Rio.
The race comes to the South Coast next Tuesday. Stage Three starts at Amgen’s headquarters in Thousand Oaks, and travels 104 miles through Ventura, and Santa Barbara Counties to finish on Gibraltar Road, in the mountains above Santa Barbara. Stage Four on Wednesday starts in Morro Bay, and finishes in Monterey.
The race is televised nationally by the NBC Sports cable network, and is seen in more than 200 countries worldwide.