Tour of California

The Tour of California (officially sponsored as the Amgen Tour of California) was an annual professional road cycling stage race on the UCI World Tour and USA Cycling Professional Tour that ran from 2006 to 2019. It was the only event on the top-level World Tour in the United States. The eight-day race covered 650–700 miles (1,045–1,126 km) through the U.S. state of California.

Tour of California
Race details
DateMay (Formerly in February)
RegionCalifornia, United States
DisciplineRoad
CompetitionUCI World Tour
TypeStage race
OrganiserAEG
Race directorDavid Salzman
Web sitewww.amgentourofcalifornia.com
History
First edition2006 (2006)
Editions14 (as of 2019)
First winner Floyd Landis (USA)
Most wins Levi Leipheimer (USA) (3 times)
Most recent Tadej Pogačar (SLO)

A typical edition might begin in the Sierra Nevada in northern California, travel through the Redwood forests, California's Wine Country and the Pacific Coast, and finish in southern California. The 2009 race crossed the Central Valley from Merced to Fresno, with an excursion through the Sierra Nevada foothills, before crossing over to the coast.

With eight or nine of the 20 UCI ProTour teams (known as ProTeams) usually racing, the Tour of California was one of the most important cycling races in the United States. On November 28, 2006, the UCI upgraded it from 2.1 (category 1) to 2.HC (French: Hors categorie; English: beyond category), the highest rating for races on the UCI Continental Circuits; the Tour of Utah is the only other 2.HC race as of 2019. On August 2, 2016, the UCI upgraded the race to World Tour status and added it to the 2017 UCI World Tour schedule.[1]

The race was originally staged in February, but the 2010 Tour of California was moved to May, the same time that the Giro d'Italia is held.[2] At the time of the move it was considered likely that the number of Americans in the Giro and Italians in the Tour of California would decrease.[3] Tour of California organizers sought to make the race a preparatory event for the Tour de France, believing few riders who seek a serious position in the Tour would ride the Giro. Since the change in schedule, the race continued to be held in May.

The tour was sponsored by Amgen, a California-based biotechnology company most famous for developing the anti anemia drug Erythropoietin (EPO), which has been used by professional cyclists in several blood doping scandals. No plans have been announced regarding if or when the tour will return.[4]

The start of the first leg of the 2010 race in Nevada City

General Classification Results

The leader and overall winner by time after each stage and at the conclusion of the race wore a Yellow Jersey. Originally the leader's jersey was gold, a reference to the California Gold Rush, but in 2009 the jersey color was changed to yellow.

Year 1st placeTeam 2nd placeTeam 3rd placeTeam
2006  Floyd Landis (USA)Phonak David Zabriskie (USA)[5]Team CSC Bobby Julich (USA)Team CSC
2007  Levi Leipheimer (USA)Discovery Channel Jens Voigt (GER)Team CSC Jason McCartney (USA)Discovery Channel
2008  Levi Leipheimer (USA)Astana David Millar (GBR)Slipstream–Chipotle Christian Vande Velde (USA)Slipstream–Chipotle
2009  Levi Leipheimer (USA)Astana David Zabriskie (USA)Garmin–Slipstream Michael Rogers (AUS)Team Columbia–High Road
2010  Michael Rogers (AUS)Team HTC–Columbia David Zabriskie (USA)Garmin–Transitions Levi Leipheimer (USA)Team RadioShack
2011  Chris Horner (USA)Team RadioShack Levi Leipheimer (USA)Team RadioShack Tom Danielson (USA)Garmin–Cervélo
2012  Robert Gesink (NED)Rabobank David Zabriskie (USA)Garmin–Barracuda Tom Danielson (USA)Garmin–Barracuda
2013  Tejay van Garderen (USA)BMC Racing Team Michael Rogers (AUS)Saxo–Tinkoff Janier Acevedo (COL)Jamis–Hagens Berman
2014  Bradley Wiggins (GBR)Team Sky Rohan Dennis (AUS)Garmin–Sharp Lawson Craddock (USA)Giant–Shimano
2015  Peter Sagan (SVK)Tinkoff–Saxo Julian Alaphilippe (FRA)Etixx–Quick-Step Sergio Henao (COL)Team Sky
2016  Julian Alaphilippe (FRA)Etixx–Quick-Step Rohan Dennis (AUS)BMC Racing Team Brent Bookwalter (USA)BMC Racing Team
2017  George Bennett (NZL)LottoNL–Jumbo Rafał Majka (POL)Bora–Hansgrohe Andrew Talansky (USA)Cannondale–Drapac
2018  Egan Bernal (COL)Team Sky Tejay van Garderen (USA)BMC Racing Team Daniel Martínez (COL)EF Education First–Drapac p/b Cannondale
2019  Tadej Pogačar (SLO)UAE Team Emirates Sergio Andrés Higuita García (COL)EF Education First Kasper Asgreen (DEN)Deceuninck–Quick-Step

Records and Jerseys

Sprints Classification

The leader and overall winner by points from intermediate and final sprints wears the Green Jersey.

Mountains Classification

The leader and overall winner by points in mountain climbs is awarded the Red Jersey (Orange in the past, before 2009) and is known as the race's King of the Mountains or "KOM."

Best Young Rider Classification

The leader and overall winner by time for riders under 23 is awarded the White Jersey. Before 2009, this jersey was silver and blue.

Teams Classification

Teams are classified based on the total time of the team's top three finishers in each stage.

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