While all the road cycling fans are focused mainly on the Giro, another stage race (newly promoted to the WT level) begins on Sunday on the other side of the pond. Ladies and gentlemen, here it comes : Amgen Tour of California.
This year, the organizers propose three flat (or flattish) stages, two medium mountain stages, one MTF and one ITT.
Stage 1: Sacramento – Sacramento, 167 km
Flat stage ending with a several short laps in the city centre. Narrow turns and short straights should not prevent a bunch sprint.
Stage 2 : Modesto – San Jose, 143 km
Medium mountain stage, involving a couple of short sharp climbs and one « real » mountain in the mid-section of the race. Uphill finale should add some entertainment for the spectators. Good opportunity for the puncheurs and strong sprinters which would survive all the climbing earlier during the day.
Stage 3 : Pismo Beach – Morro Beach, 186 km
Flat stage, bunch sprint.
Stage 4 : Santa Barbara – Santa Clarita, 159 km
A 40 kilometres long gentle uphill drag to the finish line following a couple of short and rather easy climbs. Sprinters should have another opportunity.
Stage 5 : Ontario – Mount Baldy, 125 km
The only proper mountain stage and the only MTF of the race. Not too hard, though : two first climbs are either not very long or not very steep, so the battle should take place on the final difficulty of the day. The only opportunity to gain some time for these GC contenders which does not feel very well in the TT (coming on the next day).
Stage 6 : Big Bear Lake, 24 km ITT
Something you will never see in the Europe : a pancake flat ITT at the altitude of 2000+ metres. Not too short and not too long, should be a stage win opportunity for a pure TT specialist.
Stage 7 : Mountain High Ski Area – Pasadena, 124 km
Looking on the profile, the final stage looks like a classic MTF stage – just ridden in an opposite direction. It begins with a 25 kilometres long descent, then traverses a couple of medium-sized mountains and hills, and finally descends again to the finish location. Bunch sprint most likely.
Participating teams : 12 WT teams, 3 PCT teams, 2 CT teams.
NOT participating : Ag2R, Bahrain, FDJ, Lotto-Soudal, Movistar, Orica.
Astana (Breschel)
BMC (Sanchez, Bookwalter, Drucker)
Bora (Sagan, Majka)
Cannondale (Talansky, Phinney, Craddock)
Cofidis (van Genechten)
Dimension Data (Renshaw)
Jelly Belly (Tvetcov)
Katusha (Kristoff, Machado)
LottoNL (Gesink, Bennett)
Novo Nordisk
QuickStep (Kittel, de la Cruz)
Rally
Sky (Geoghegan Hart, Kennaugh, Lopez, Viviani)
Sunweb (Oomen)
Trek (Degenkolb, Zubeldia)
United Healthcare (Acevedo)
UAE (Durasek, Guardini)
Generally, a big pack of top (Degenkolb, Kittel, Kristoff, Sagan), first- and second tier sprinters. On the other hand – not too much climbers and usual GC suspects.
Full startlist available here :
http://www.procyclingstats.com/race/Amgen_Tour_of_California_2017_Startlist
This year, the organizers propose three flat (or flattish) stages, two medium mountain stages, one MTF and one ITT.
Stage 1: Sacramento – Sacramento, 167 km
Flat stage ending with a several short laps in the city centre. Narrow turns and short straights should not prevent a bunch sprint.
Stage 2 : Modesto – San Jose, 143 km
Medium mountain stage, involving a couple of short sharp climbs and one « real » mountain in the mid-section of the race. Uphill finale should add some entertainment for the spectators. Good opportunity for the puncheurs and strong sprinters which would survive all the climbing earlier during the day.
Stage 3 : Pismo Beach – Morro Beach, 186 km
Flat stage, bunch sprint.
Stage 4 : Santa Barbara – Santa Clarita, 159 km
A 40 kilometres long gentle uphill drag to the finish line following a couple of short and rather easy climbs. Sprinters should have another opportunity.
Stage 5 : Ontario – Mount Baldy, 125 km
The only proper mountain stage and the only MTF of the race. Not too hard, though : two first climbs are either not very long or not very steep, so the battle should take place on the final difficulty of the day. The only opportunity to gain some time for these GC contenders which does not feel very well in the TT (coming on the next day).
Stage 6 : Big Bear Lake, 24 km ITT
Something you will never see in the Europe : a pancake flat ITT at the altitude of 2000+ metres. Not too short and not too long, should be a stage win opportunity for a pure TT specialist.
Stage 7 : Mountain High Ski Area – Pasadena, 124 km
Looking on the profile, the final stage looks like a classic MTF stage – just ridden in an opposite direction. It begins with a 25 kilometres long descent, then traverses a couple of medium-sized mountains and hills, and finally descends again to the finish location. Bunch sprint most likely.
Participating teams : 12 WT teams, 3 PCT teams, 2 CT teams.
NOT participating : Ag2R, Bahrain, FDJ, Lotto-Soudal, Movistar, Orica.
Astana (Breschel)
BMC (Sanchez, Bookwalter, Drucker)
Bora (Sagan, Majka)
Cannondale (Talansky, Phinney, Craddock)
Cofidis (van Genechten)
Dimension Data (Renshaw)
Jelly Belly (Tvetcov)
Katusha (Kristoff, Machado)
LottoNL (Gesink, Bennett)
Novo Nordisk
QuickStep (Kittel, de la Cruz)
Rally
Sky (Geoghegan Hart, Kennaugh, Lopez, Viviani)
Sunweb (Oomen)
Trek (Degenkolb, Zubeldia)
United Healthcare (Acevedo)
UAE (Durasek, Guardini)
Generally, a big pack of top (Degenkolb, Kittel, Kristoff, Sagan), first- and second tier sprinters. On the other hand – not too much climbers and usual GC suspects.
Full startlist available here :
http://www.procyclingstats.com/race/Amgen_Tour_of_California_2017_Startlist