Visitors of the Amgen Tour of California website might have noticed a “coming soon” announcement for the 2019 list of host cities, but Santa Clarita officials recently hinted the city could host next year.
“It’s going to be an exciting announcement,” said city Communications Manager Carrie Lujan.
The City Council and staff, along with members of the Santa Clarita Valley Bicycle Coalition, are set to reveal “breaking news” details during a press conference at City Hall on Dec. 5.
Santa Clarita, known as an avid cycling community, acted as a host city for the first time in 2007, followed by eight more times up until 2017. The cycle race skipped the city in 2018.
The Tour de France-style race is considered America’s largest professional road cycling competition that challenges the world’s top professional cycling teams to compete along a demanding course that traverses hundreds of miles of California’s iconic highways, byways and coastlines each spring.
In 2017, Santa Clarita acted as the Stage 4 Finish location for the seven-day, 575-mile cycling race, which traversed through 12 California cities before ending in Pasadena. With nine years of participation, the total of stages hosted in the city amounts to 13.
“The city has the distinct honor of hosting more stages of the Amgen Tour of California than any other,” Lujan said in 2017.
The event is known for bringing thousands of community members out to cheer for competitors, while local hotels and businesses stay busy providing them a place to stay and eat.
For more information about the race, visit amgentourofcalifornia.com
661-287-5522
