The Amgen Tour of California, by switching to May, is going head-to-head with major European tours. The line up at the TOC is impressive. Several team riders have chosen to ride the TOC instead of the European Giro d’ Italia.
Amgen announced the 16 teams that were invited to participate in the tour. It is an impressive group, and should make for an impressive peloton, a great tour, and wonderful opportunities for locals along the route, to watch a world class event. Invitations to Americas top stage race are eagerly sought by pro teams around the globe.
Team Radio Shack, whose riders include Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer, will be there. Other pro tour teams include HTC-Columbia, Quick Step, Saxo Bank, Garmin-Transitions, Rabobank, and Liquigas-Dolmo. Professional Continental teams Cervelo TestTeam and BMC racing will also participate.
U.S. based Continental teams Bissell Pro Cycling, UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis, Jelly Belly p/b Kenda, SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy, Fly V Australia, Team Type 1 and Kelly Benefit Strategies are expected to ride as well.
This makes for the strongest group of riders and teams the TOC has experienced. The addition of the North American based Continental teams makes for a great match-up with the worlds great riders.
HTC-Columbia’s Mark Cavendish, known as the Missle, along with Michael Rodgers will skip the Giro to ride the TOC this year. Tom Boonen (Quick Step), Dave Zibriiskie (Garming-Transitions), Vicenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Dolmo), Andy Schleck and Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) are among the Europeans who have decided to ride the TOC.
As of this writing, the full rosters of who will be riding for each team isn’t known. The Pro Tour teams have to make strategic decisions about who will ride where, and when. Not long after the TOC is over, the Tour de France will be contested. It looks to be a great riding season. If you are a retired Boomer, a trip to California to see the assembled pro’s race down the California coast could be a great vacation.