Tour of California

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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 Edit this at Wikidata
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)

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.

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[edit]

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 place Team 2nd place Team 3rd place Team
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[edit]

Sprints Classification[edit]

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

Mountains Classification[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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