Amgen Tour's First Two Stages in Sacramento and Folsom

Sacramento will host the start of the 2014 Amgen Tour of California bicycle race on May 11th.  

Racers will start at the State Capitol.  There will be three sprints -one in Lincoln and one in Auburn followed by a descent to the American River and then a climb up Highway 49.  The third sprint of the day will be in the town of Cool. The riders then head south and west for a flat run back into Sacramento.

Cycling fans spent the morning examining a map of the course.

Brian Ray is a local cyclist.  He says the run between the towns of Auburn and Cool will test the riders.

"That's a really tricky downhill, lots of corners you can't see around. There's a couple of 15 mile-an-hour corners that are hair-pins and it's a sheer drop off on one side because you're coming down into the confluence."

The stage will end with three laps around the Capitol Building.  

The first stage is the longest of the race at 120 miles. 

Bob Rogen of Sacramento is a fan of racing and of the stage-one course.

"It's probably the closest thing we've had yet for the Amgen in this area that replicates climbing in the Alps, climbing in the Dolomites in Italy.  It'll be good preparation for these guys for those big tours. It's also great for the fans because the best place to watch racing is really in the climbs."

The race's second stage is a time trial through Folsom.

Stage two is a time trial through Folsom.  The region will also host a two-stage women's race.  Cristina Kaylor works at City Bicycle Works in Sacramento.  She says she sees more women taking up cycling.

"Women who are getting into the sport, kind of getting together with their female friends, and kind of hitting the bike trail and making it an exercise and getting pretty serious into it."

Stages three-through-eight of the men's race will take riders through San Jose, Mount Diablo State Park, Monterey, Cambria, Pismo Beach, Santa Barbara, Santa Clarita, Mountain High, Pasadena, and Thousand Oaks.

Stage 1

Day: Sunday, May 11, 2014

Time: 10:50 AM Start

Overall Stage Start: Sacramento

Finish: Sacramento 

Miles: 120 mi

Kilometers: 193.1 km

Elevation Gain: 3,900ft

Stage 2