News
NEVADA CITY, Calif. — With nearly two weeks to go until the Amgen Tour of California bike race rolls through Nevada County, officials are still hammering out key plans for the race's route.
The Amgen Tour, featuring a bevy of internationally-renowned riders, is scheduled to pull through Nevada City around lunch hour Monday, May 16. Just exactly how it will wind through this part of the foothills isn't yet clear, though.
May 16 will mark the second day of the race, which begins this year in South Lake Tahoe after last year starting in Nevada City.
The route racers take through Nevada City is expected to be finalized today, said Nevada City's Duane Strawser, owner of the Tour of Nevada City Bike Shop and a race organizer. Strawser was meeting with Amgen race officials over the weekend, he said.
On day two, the riders are scheduled to start at 10:15 a.m. at Squaw Valley, take old Highway 40 through Truckee, past Donner Lake and into Norden and Crystal Lake before crossing I-80 and descending Highway 20 to Nevada City.
Initial course layouts have the riders leaving Nevada City via Ridge Road, turning onto Rough and Ready Highway and heading west on Highway 20 to Yuba County, where they're expected to turn south for Sacramento. The stage is 133.2 miles long in total.
Stephanie O'Meara, a Grass Valley resident and mountain biker, plans to watch the road race near Harmony Ridge on Highway 20 east of Nevada City.
“I'm thinking about taking my bike up that day and taking a ride up there after they pass through,” O'Meara said. “If the weather holds, it should be a perfect day to be out anyway. And, you'd get a pretty good view of everyone coming downhill; there's a pretty long straight-away right there.”
Amgen's third stage starts in Auburn on May 17 and finishes in Modesto. The race wraps up Sunday, May 22 in Thousand Oaks. It is expected to be televised on the Versus Network.
The Amgen Tour, featuring a bevy of internationally-renowned riders, is scheduled to pull through Nevada City around lunch hour Monday, May 16. Just exactly how it will wind through this part of the foothills isn't yet clear, though.
May 16 will mark the second day of the race, which begins this year in South Lake Tahoe after last year starting in Nevada City.
The route racers take through Nevada City is expected to be finalized today, said Nevada City's Duane Strawser, owner of the Tour of Nevada City Bike Shop and a race organizer. Strawser was meeting with Amgen race officials over the weekend, he said.
On day two, the riders are scheduled to start at 10:15 a.m. at Squaw Valley, take old Highway 40 through Truckee, past Donner Lake and into Norden and Crystal Lake before crossing I-80 and descending Highway 20 to Nevada City.
Initial course layouts have the riders leaving Nevada City via Ridge Road, turning onto Rough and Ready Highway and heading west on Highway 20 to Yuba County, where they're expected to turn south for Sacramento. The stage is 133.2 miles long in total.
Stephanie O'Meara, a Grass Valley resident and mountain biker, plans to watch the road race near Harmony Ridge on Highway 20 east of Nevada City.
“I'm thinking about taking my bike up that day and taking a ride up there after they pass through,” O'Meara said. “If the weather holds, it should be a perfect day to be out anyway. And, you'd get a pretty good view of everyone coming downhill; there's a pretty long straight-away right there.”
Amgen's third stage starts in Auburn on May 17 and finishes in Modesto. The race wraps up Sunday, May 22 in Thousand Oaks. It is expected to be televised on the Versus Network.
