Tour of California's Route Light on Downtown?
Nico Sanchez
[Flickr]
2009 Amgen Tour of California champion Levi Leipheimer rides a time trial in Sacramento.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Update (5pm): A representative from the Tour says that the route given is one that was under consideration, but not the route that will be used. The course was deemed too disruptive to traffic and residents.
Downtown will serve as the start and end point for Stage 7 in May's Amgen Tour of California, but don't expect to see professional cyclists whizzing up and down neighborhood streets.
The 120 participants in the May 22 time trial will instead start at L.A. Live and head west on Olympic, reaching the ocean in Venice before circling back to the entertainment complex.
The 8-stage race runs from May 16 - 23, making its way from Sacramento and the Bay Area to Los Angeles. It is owned by AEG, the developer of the L.A. Live complex.
While route details have not yet been posted on the Tour's website, information in the city's Public Way Reservation System shows a long, straight 30-mile route. From Chick Hearn, the riders will turn left onto Figueroa and then left onto Olympic. They'll travel six miles before turning onto Fairfax and making a short jog over to Venice, which they will take to an oceanside turnaround. The return route will follow the same path, but will divert from Olympic to Pico at a yet-unnamed cross-street. The finish line will be on Figueroa.
While a conflict with the more-established Giro d'Italia may hurt the race's ability to attract international talent, America's top cyclists are signed on for the event. Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie and Dave Zabriskie all participated in an October Twitter event announcing the stage locations.
ubrayj02 on February 03, 2010, at 08:57AM – #1
Well, I now know how the French feel about the Tour - since I've done the Downtown to Venice trip many times. Oh, the hellfires of mid-city await thee professional cyclists! As do the yuppies at the intersection of San Vicente and Venice - they would merge into a caravan of their own mothers if it meant they could keep their feet on their collective gas pedals, moving from Venice to San Vicente.
Will the cyclists be forced to stay in the bike lane the whole way?
Will they be called out for being "rude" by not riding single file?
Will they stop at the taco truck on Venice and La Cienega, or the one at Venice and Centinela?
Will the BikeRoWave crash the race with their own tall bike entry?
I plan on being there to find out, with a cargo bike filled with beer and food.
Amy on February 03, 2010, at 02:16PM – #2
Information on the route has not yet been released. Not sure that this information is correct. I'll wait to hear the official news.
Eric Richardson (@blogdowntown) on February 03, 2010, at 02:53PM – #3
Amy: We updated the story yesterday afternoon saying as much. A tour rep says that the route we posted had been under consideration, but was not the one chosen. He claimed it was very old, though it had just freshly been input into the city's systems.