The Tour of California starts in Sacramento. The first stage will be 193 kms long and has 2 sprint gates and 1 mountaÅŸn pass. But it's a flat stage in overall.
Stage 2 : Folsom - Folsom (ITT) 20kms 12.5m
The 12.5 mile route will begin and finish in Folsom’s historic district. A start on Sutter Street will be followed by a left turn onto Riley and a short downhill run onto the Rainbow Bridge and over the American River. The riders will then head north towards Folsom Lake. A right turn onto Folsom Lake Crossing will take the riders past the main entrance of California’s second oldest prison. A turn onto Green Valley will lead the riders to an 180° turn and back on the same route to a finish in Folsom’s historic downtown district. This is a fast and flat course. While there is good chance that we will see a new leader after Stage 2, don’t expect to see the yellow jersey leave Folsom with a large lead.
Stage 3 : San Jose - Mount Diablo.
The Queen’s stage comes early in the 2014 Amgen Tour of California. Stage 3 will start at Lake Cunningham Regional Park on the east side of San Jose. This will be the first time the race has gone this way to the summit of Mt. Hamilton. It is long and steep climb with 22 switchbacks. The descent off of Mt. Hamilton is shorter than the ascent, but it is steeper and much more technical.
As the riders skirt the east side of Livermore, the race will hook into last year's route to Danville and the approach to Mount Diablo. The race up Mount Diablo in 2013 will still be fresh in many of the rider's minds. They will remember the initial climb, the flat run to "The Junction" and then the final relentless push to the summit. The winner here will almost certainly wear yellow on today's podium.
The stage 4 wil stat on Morterey and the rider will ride next to Pacific Ocean,
it is going to be a 156 kms of beauty, the riders will arrive to Cambria and Sprinters will try to win a stage!
Stage 5: Pismo Beach to Santa Barbara 173 kms
Pismo Beach is the third new city to host a stage of the 2014 Amgen Tour of California. As the route then heads south towards a finish along the beach in Santa Barbara, As the race passes through Los Olivos on Hwy 154, ome of the riders might think it is just a flat run to the coast. The experienced riders will know the HC climb up the San Marcos Pass is waiting just ahead. The descent into Santa Barbara is steep and fast. Is there any more picturesque way to finish than where the mountains meet the sea in Santa Barbara?
Stage 6 :Santa Clarita to Mountain High
Stage 6 will start in the Newhall section of Santa Clarita.The race continues through the familiar host city of Palmdale and onto the route used in 2010 to reach Big Bear. The climb of Big Pine Rd. was the first of many on the 2010 route. It will be the final climb of Stage 6. As the riders reach the top of the climb and have Mountain High Ski resort in their sights, the leaders will find that the route makes a 180 degree turn up Table Mountain Rd and another steep 1.2 mile climb to the remote finish at Mountain High North. This will be the second true mountaintop finish of 2014.
Santa Clarita will host two stages in 2014. Stage 7 will start at the familiar Town Center Mall. The route will follow a high desert path to a Sprint A slight twist from the familiar route through the National Forest will be the addition of Upper Big Tujunga. This not only adds a second KOM, it also adds several miles on the picturesque Angeles Crest Highway. Passing the Mount Wilson Observatory, the riders will quickly begin a long, steep, and very technical descent into the town of La Canada Flintridge. The riders will pass by the Rose Bowl and across the iconic Colorado Street Bridge. After some quick turns in Old Town Pasadena, the leaders will see City Hall, the finish line, and 3-laps to go. The three mile circuit will follow many well known streets in Pasadena, including the main route of the famous Rose Parade...Colorado Blvd
Stage 8 - Thousand Oaks Circuit Race
As it did in 2010, Thousand Oaks will host an overall finish to the Amgen Tour of California. The final Stage will be contested over the same circuit used in 2010. Yes, that means four ascents up the infamous Rock Store climb on Mulholland Drive. Each 20-mile circuit will pass through Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, past the Rock Store at the foot of the climb, and then a very technical descent of Westlake Blvd. If the race is close coming into Stage 8, there is the likelihood that the yellow jersey will change on the final day of the race.
FAVOURITES!
Sprinters
There are really great sprinters in this years ATOC. One of them is TheManxMissile Mark Cavendish. He won 4 stages in Tour of Turkey and now he want to win some more here in America. Also one of the favourite is Peter Sagan. He won E3 Prijs Harelbeke and 1 stage in Tirreno Adriatico this year. He is also here to win some more races in ATOC.
Also John Degenkolb is here, he won a stage on Paris Nice , 2nd on P-R and also Gent-Wevelgem! Matt Goss is here in ATOC. He didn't have any good result this year but he is one of the semi-favourites this year. Also Van Poppel , Moreno Hofland and Thor Hushovd will try to win a stage.
GC
A TT and three mountain stages! Bradley Wiggins is here in ATOC. We haven't seen a good perfornce on climbing this year.. Maybe he can wear the jersey in ATOC. Thiago Machado is a good favourite this year. Can porteguese beat his opponents to get the victory?
Adam Yates who is a neo-pro who races for Orica-Greenedge. He won Tour of Turkey in front of Rein Taamaare with a great performance. Is he strong enough to beat his opponents in this years ATOC? Also Stetina has an advantage on Time Trial too! Can 26-year old American could get a win in this years Tour of California. Other outsiders :
Craddock , Ten Dam , Busche and Zubeldia
emre99's stages Thread of the Week : Tour of California 2014 -Official PCM World Cup 2016, 10th best keirin player in the world PCM.daily Awards : 2 Nominee 0 Award
Daily Song Contest WINNER! With Foals - Mountain at my Gates with Greece! 1 like 1 girlfriend ''I call you the stage god. You are the stage god.'' -baseballover312, 15.07.2016
jsh312mufc wrote:
I thought only WT races got a thread
Yes, but lots of Americans here, I think they have lots of things to discuss.
#FREELANDA #FREELIA MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
emre99's stages Thread of the Week : Tour of California 2014 -Official PCM World Cup 2016, 10th best keirin player in the world PCM.daily Awards : 2 Nominee 0 Award
Daily Song Contest WINNER! With Foals - Mountain at my Gates with Greece! 1 like 1 girlfriend ''I call you the stage god. You are the stage god.'' -baseballover312, 15.07.2016
Not a great field this year GC wise but a few interesting younger guys, strong sprinters do make it interesting but finding it hard to get to excited about the race.
Hells 500 Crew and 6 x Everester
Don Rd Launching Place
Melbourne Hill Rd Warrandyte
Colby Drive Belgrave South
William Rd The Patch
David Hill Rd Monbulk
Lakeside Drive Emerald https://www.everesting.cc/hall-of-fame/
jsh312mufc wrote:
I thought only WT races got a thread
Yes, but lots of Americans here, I think they have lots of things to discuss.
Fair enough. Should do the same for the Tour of Britain
More people watch this because of the Tour Tracker.
Of that list I think Craddock might surprise and win.
Just checked the Startlist. Acevedo should probably be a favourite, possibly Danielson or Nathan Brown too. If not Wiggins then Boswell. John Esteban Chaves, George Bennett, and maybe De La Cruz. Although Im mentioning Top 10 favourites more than race winners.
Strydz wrote:
Not a great field this year GC wise but a few interesting younger guys, strong sprinters do make it interesting but finding it hard to get to excited about the race.
the Tour of California's never been that diverse GCwise
Great sprinting field, but the same can't be said for GC guys. I honestly don't believe that Wiggins can win here. I mean, you can't just finish in the first group (and as 9th!) on Paris - Roubaix and less than month after win a pretty hard race such as ToCA.
But I just don't want to start Sky-doping discussion here, as we already have a thread for it. Soooo, go Yates!
Also, it looks like Tour Tracker back for 2014, definitely deserves a banana
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar!
Strydz wrote:
Not a great field this year GC wise but a few interesting younger guys, strong sprinters do make it interesting but finding it hard to get to excited about the race.
the Tour of California's never been that diverse GCwise
A look back through the previous editions says different
Hells 500 Crew and 6 x Everester
Don Rd Launching Place
Melbourne Hill Rd Warrandyte
Colby Drive Belgrave South
William Rd The Patch
David Hill Rd Monbulk
Lakeside Drive Emerald https://www.everesting.cc/hall-of-fame/
Kirchen_75 wrote:
California is always a great watch in the late evening for us Europeans
+1 theres something great about watching live cycling at 12am at night
+2. I always enjoy watching ToCA from my bed.
It's AtoC, not ToCA
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar!
Strydz wrote:
Not a great field this year GC wise but a few interesting younger guys, strong sprinters do make it interesting but finding it hard to get to excited about the race.
the Tour of California's never been that diverse GCwise
A look back through the previous editions says different
Not really. 2013 had Rogers and Van Garderen who both cant really be considered better than someone like Wiggins. 2012 had Gesink and that was about it. 2011 had a fairly weak field with Levi and Horner dominating at a time when neither were really super strong (couldn't hope for more than a Top 10 in a GT). 2010 same thing.
Historically the race has one or two big names (but not A-List GC riders) and several decent climbers some of whom are in good form and others who just seem to be there to enjoy the California sun. Add to that, the group of American climbers who are often the ones most motivated at the race, although the American group never consists of an A-List climber (mostly because there isn't one )
He won 4 stages in Tour of Turkey and now he want to win some more here in America. Also one of the favourite is Peter Sagan. 
He won E3 Prijs Harelbeke and 1 stage in Tirreno Adriatico this year. He is also here to win some more races in ATOC. 
is here, he won a stage on Paris Nice , 2nd on P-R and also Gent-Wevelgem! Matt Goss 
is here in ATOC. He didn't have any good result this year but he is one of the semi-favourites this year. Also Van Poppel 
, Moreno Hofland 
will try to win a stage.
is a good favourite this year. Can porteguese beat his opponents to get the victory?
has an advantage on Time Trial too! Can 26-year old American could get a win in this years Tour of California. Other outsiders :
Definitely not going win.
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
