The Amgen Tour of California pro bike race will return to Sacramento for the third consecutive year in February, but this time there will be more thrills for cycling fans, more business for restaurants and fewer headaches for everyone else.
That's because the city landed a coup for the 2009 event – it will host the first stage of the race's nine stages in a worldwide televised event.
What's more, the start and finish of the stage will be in Sacramento on Feb. 14, providing several hours in-between for fans to watch other races, explore the city and experience the recent restaurant boom.
Cycling hotbed Davis will host the start of the second stage, which will end in Santa Rosa.
And for those who grumbled that the 2007 and 2006 Sacramento finishes were held on a weekday afternoon downtown, this one will be on a Saturday, when the city is relatively sleepy and devoid of stressed out commuters heading for home.
Though details of the race course will be finalized in the coming months, the Sacramento stage is expected to include a three-lap circuit around downtown, then send the riders on about an 80-mile course that returns to the city for the finish.
Such an arrangement should attract thousands of cycling fans for what will amount to an all-day festival as they await the peloton's return.
Events to fill that time will likely include a women's pro criterium, and a fast-paced, multiple-lap race that is fan-friendly and has been called the bicycle version of NASCAR.
"It's an opportunity for the downtown area to really show itself off and offer a lot of different activities," said Michael Sayers, a Sacramento native and longtime professional bike rider.
"Getting the first-day start and finish speaks volumes for how much Sacramento has become part of the cycling community again," Sayers said. "The fans in Sacramento have themselves to thank."
Andrew Messick, president of AEG Sports, the company that owns the race, confirmed that fan enthusiasm played a role in elevating Sacramento's involvement in the 2009 race.
Last year, fans were treated to a stage victory by Tom Boonen, twice the winner of the grueling Paris-Roubaix race and perhaps the biggest star in the sport.
"We've been extremely pleased not just with the support of the fans but the partnership with the organizing committee," Messick said. "We love cycling and we love people who love cycling."
Unlike the Tour of California's first three years, Day 1 will feature a traditional road race instead of a prologue time trial – a short race against the clock in which riders go off one at a time. San Francisco hosted the first two years, and Palo Alto had the prologue last year.
Further details are expected to be announced today by AEG Sports. What's known already is that the Tour will add a day in 2009 and will race across the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time.
Sacramento was not included in the Tour's inaugural year but has hosted a stage the past two years. Both times, large crowds lined the downtown streets to watch 100 or more racers speed through town at 30-plus mph.
But John McCasey, executive director of the Sacramento Sports Commission, pushed for more.
In order to land Day 1, the city had to agree to host a gala dinner for the racers and fans. McCasey said that is already booked for Thursday, Feb. 12, at Memorial Auditorium.
The bid to host Day 1 includes 143 hotel rooms for crews to set up the event, as well as 300 breakfasts, box lunches and dinners. The cost to host Day 1 will be $80,000-$90,000, including police presence at the race, McCasey said.
Because the Tour of California has attracted some of the sport's biggest names, the race receives extensive media coverage throughout Europe. It is also expected to be broadcast in 100 countries in 2009, according to Messick.
Like the three-week Tour de France, the Tour of California is considered both an important bike race and a rolling postcard shown to the rest of the world.
And with Sacramento's portion of it shifting to Saturday, there should be more pluses and fewer logistical challenges, McCasey said.
"There hasn't been a single negative word expressed by anybody. All the barometers are this is a win/win," he said.
Call The Bee's Blair Anthony Robertson, (916) 321-1099.
