I say “looks like” because the official route announcement for America’s largest bicycle race won’t be made until Thursday, but the rumor-mill isn’t looking good for a fourth straight Tour of California stop in Santa Clarita.
Here’s what one bicycle website cooked up as an unofficial route for the 2010 ToC based on off-the-record comments and other info from ToC sponsors:
On the plus side this year’s race is supposed to have a lot more climbing. The stages along the Sierra Nevadas and in Big Bear ought to really challenge the riders. A time trial in Venice should be pretty cool to see.
At this point no one is mentioning Santa Clarita, while everyone seems fairly certain that Bakersfield will be included. I suppose that’s only fair considering we’ve had a stage stop or start (and in one year both) for the last three years. Happily, Bakersfield, Thousands Oaks, Woodland Hills, Venice and even Big Bear are well within driving distance for SCV cycling fans
When I asked last month, I didn’t get the sense that the City was really gung-ho about hosting a stage again this year; hosting a stage start as we did in 2009 probably wasn’t as profitable to the City as the stage start/stop was in 2007. The expense to the city was probably above $100k, if estimates from other cities are any indication. That said, for a few years our name was reliably splashed around the sporting community as world famous cyclists -including Lance Armstrong- challenged each other on our awesome canyon roads.
We’ll know for sure on Thursday!
The Steephill link seems to think that the Big Bear stage will start here or in Pasadena…
Given the fires in the Angeles, and the fact that Caltrans has no idea when the roads will reopen, or if they’ll survive the winter, I’m betting that they’re looking to start here again, ride out Soledad maybe out Mt. Emma road and east along the back of the foothills, through the Cajon pass and up 138 through Arrowhead and up 18 into Big Bear.
But, like you said… Thursday we’ll know!
I enjoy the spectacle of seeing the racers and went to Pasadena last year to see them. SCV had their time in the sun, time to spread the wealth around I suppose. I hope the Tour does come back, it’s humbling to see athletes of this caliber thisclose.