Special events
AMGEN Tour of California
Coming to Modesto May 19, 2010
2010 AMGEN TOUR OF CALIFORNIA PROFESSIONAL CYCLING ROAD RACE
Modesto to Once Again Be Part of Defining Moment in Race.
The Amgen Tour of California 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.
Already considered cycling’s most important and successful stage race in the United States, the 2010 Amgen Tour of California will be expanded to cover more than 800 miles over nine days. In its fifth running, the race will travel through California on a demanding course from Nevada City, the state’s capitol, Sacramento, Santa Rosa, San Francisco, into San Diego County, and will visit Modesto on Wednesday, May 19 for a leg of the race from San Jose to Modesto. The Stage 4 leg of the race includes an epic climb and will prove to be a defining moment in the race. The final days of the race will be an up hill climb to Big Bear, time trials in Los Angeles with a circuit course finish in Thousand Oaks.
"Each year, we continue our commitment to upgrading and enhancing every element of the Amgen Tour of California, not only for the cyclists, but also for the spectators along the route, by creating an even more challenging and exciting race," said Andrew Messick, president of AEG Sports, presenter of the race. One of the most anticipated professional cycling races in the world, the 2010 Amgen Tour of California will be staged over a more challenging route, especially during Stage 4:
Stage 4: San Jose to Modesto (Wednesday, May 19, 2010)
Start Time: 11:00 am
Start Location: Park Ave between Almanden and Market in San Jose
Finish Location: Intersection of I St. and 12th St. in Modesto
The stage will finish with two and a half circuits in downtown Modesto. The riders in the 2010 Amgen Tour of California will get a good taste of what Modesto has to offer as they speed around town during their two and a half circuit laps. The riders will come from Patterson on Carpenter Road. The circuit route will speed east on Kansas Avenue and over the Needham Overpass, with a left onto College Avenue. Riders will zoom past Modesto Junior College and hang a right onto Coldwell Avenue, then a right onto Sycamore Avenue. To get to the finish line at the intersection of 12th and I Streets, riders will quickly turn off Sycamore onto Needham over to 16th Street before shooting west onto I street to do it all again after racing up 11th Street to get back onto College.
- Click here (pdf, 524Kb) to view and download the Modesto Stage 4 circuit map.
- Click here (pdf, 382Kb) to view and download the course map for the Stage 4 route from San Jose to Modesto.
For downloadable course maps and elevation profiles for each stage of the race, please visit www.amgentourofcalifornia.com. Additional resources such as recommended viewing locations and route logs will be added to the Web site in the coming weeks.
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About the Amgen Tour of California
The largest cycling event in America, the 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. Building on last year's fourth-annual stage race, the 2010 Amgen Tour of California will be expanded to cover more than 800 miles over eight days from May 16-23, 2010.
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.