Updated Stage 6 Route Details Announced
Palmdale to Serve as Start City for Stage 6 on May 21LOS ANGELES (April 13, 2010) – The City of Palmdale, in north Los Angeles County, will serve as a host city and be the location for the Stage 6 start of the 2010 Amgen Tour of California, AEG, presenter of the eight-day cycling road race, announced today. The May 21 stage start had to be moved from Pasadena due to road closures on the Angeles Crest Highway caused by recent fires and subsequent mudslide damage to the route. The fifth-annual event, which will once again have a world-class field of competitors, including three-time defending champion Levi Leipheimer and seven-time Tour de France Champion Lance Armstrong, will take place from May 16-23.
Palmdale City Hall will serve as the backdrop for the most difficult stage in the five-year history of the Amgen Tour of California. After a five-mile neutral section heading south on Sierra Rd., the route makes a left turn onto Angeles Forest Highway. Facing the riders is the imposing San Gabriel mountain range, and within a few miles the first of seven KOMs will be crested. After a blistering descent from Mill Creek Summit, the route turns to Upper Big Tujunga and then onto Angeles Crest Highway. From there, the riders continue on a 135-mile odyssey with more than 12,000 feet of climbing. The race will climb to a high point of nearly 8,000 feet as it rolls along the Angeles Crest Highway. Then, there is a brief respite as they descend to Wrightwood and over to Highway 138. The route again ascends as it passes through Crestline and Lake Arrowhead, as the cyclists take to the “Rim of the World” highway. Entering the Big Bear area, the riders will take the northern route around Big Bear Lake and then tackle the last rise to the finish at a more than 7,000-foot elevation at the Snow Summit ski area for the Amgen Tour of California’s first-ever alpine finish.
“After assessing the options for re-routing Stage 6 of the Amgen Tour of California, we determined that Palmdale would be the perfect start city for the race, allowing us to feature much of the same challenging terrain in the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains,” said Andrew Messick, president of AEG Sports. “As long-term partners of Pasadena, we appreciate how graciously they have handled this difficult situation. We look forward to returning to Pasadena soon and to working with new partner Palmdale this year.”
“The City of Palmdale is thrilled to be part of an event as prestigious as the Amgen Tour of California,” said Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford. “We look forward to welcoming riders, officials and fans to our community. We appreciate the opportunity to showcase Palmdale to the world as a vibrant community, and look forward to a truly enjoyable occasion.”
Considered cycling’s most important and successful stage race in the United States, the 2010 Amgen Tour of California will travel along a more than 800-mile course from Nevada City to Thousand Oaks, title-sponsor Amgen’s hometown community. Host cities for the eight stages include: Nevada City (new city for 2010), Sacramento, Davis, Santa Rosa, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, San Jose, Modesto, Visalia, Bakersfield (new city for 2010), Palmdale (new city for 2010), Big Bear Lake (new city for 2010), Los Angeles (new city for 2010) and Thousand Oaks/Westlake Village (new city for 2010)/Agoura Hills (new city for 2010).
For more information about the Amgen Tour of California, please visit www.amgentourofcalifornia.com.
About the Amgen Tour of California
The largest cycling event in America, the 2010 Amgen Tour of California is a Tour de France-style cycling road race, presented by AEG, that challenges the world’s top professional cycling teams to compete along a demanding course through the state from May 16-23.
About Amgen
Amgen discovers, develops, manufactures and delivers innovative human therapeutics. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen was one of the first companies to realize the new science's promise by bringing safe and effective medicines from lab, to manufacturing plant, to patient. Amgen therapeutics have changed the practice of medicine, helping millions of people around the world in the fight against cancer, kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and other serious illnesses. With a broad and deep pipeline of potential new medicines, Amgen remains committed to advancing science to dramatically improve people's lives. To learn more about Amgen's pioneering science and vital medicines, visit www.amgen.com. To learn more about Amgen’s Breakaway from Cancer initiative, visit www.breakawayfromcancer.com.
About AEG
AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Anschutz Company, owns or controls a collection of companies including facilities such as STAPLES Center, The Home Depot Center, Sprint Center, The O2, NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE and NOKIA Theatre Times Square; sports franchises including the Los Angeles Kings (NHL), two Major League Soccer franchises, two hockey franchises operated in Europe, management of privately held shares of the Los Angeles Lakers, the ING Bay to Breakers foot race and the Amgen Tour of California cycling road race; AEG LIVE, the organization’s live-entertainment division, is a collection of companies dedicated to all aspects of live contemporary music performance, touring and a variety of programming and multi-media production. For more information, visit AEG today at www.aegworldwide.com.
# # # Media Contacts:
AEG
Michael Roth
213-742-7155
mroth@aeg-la.com
GolinHarris
Nicole Okoneski
213-438-8793
nokoneski@golinharris.com
