The race processes out of Folsom on the city’s newly completed Johnny Cash Trail, a unique 3-mile pedestrian and bike path that honors the memory of Johnny Cash and his historic 1968 performance at Folsom Prison. Turning right at the intricately planned Legacy Park, the riders start their uphill trek into Gold Country.
Twenty-three miles into the Sierra Nevada foothills is historical Placerville. Originally known as Hangtown, Placerville was the epicenter of the 1948 Gold Rush, with places like Sutter’s Mill not far away. The entire town is a California Historical Landmark, but there is a rich history in the surrounding hillsides too.
Throughout seven stages over seven days (May 12-18, 2019), the world’s elite professional cyclists will contest mountain roads, highways and coastlines from Sacramento to Pasadena. The 777.6-mile course through 13 Host Cities will ante up 14 Sprints, more than 68,000 feet of elevation gain and 25 King of the Mountain (KOM) climbs, the most in race history, and a fan-favorite Mt. Baldy summit finish. More than half of the seven stages feature 120+-mile courses.
Amgen Tour of California is a Tour de France-style cycling road race created and presented by AEG 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.
2019 Winners
UAE Team Emirates' Tadej Pogacar tied up the overall win at the 2019 Tour of California, getting through the final stage from Santa Clarita to Pasadena unscathed, having taken the race lead the previous day on Mount Baldy.Stage 7 was won by Team Sunweb's Cees Bol, who outsprinted Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates teammate Jasper Philipsen, topping off a tough week of racing that saw Dimension Data's Mark Cavendish retire from the race on the final stage.
Twenty-year-old Pogacar's overall win by 16 seconds over EF Education First's Sergio Higuita – with Deceuninck-QuickStep's Kasper Asgreen only a single second further back in third – was never truly in doubt, although Bora-Hansgrohe's Max Schachmann, who started the day 11th overall, 1:28 down on Pogacar, featured in the day's early breakaway, and at one point held the virtual race lead, and was later joined up front by Asgreen, who was a true danger man for Pogacar.
However, the race came back together in the final 10km, and the only real question then was who was going to win the bunch sprint, with Dutchman Bol coming out on top.
Pogacar, meanwhile, could celebrate the biggest win of his short career so far, while 21-year-old Colombian climber Higuita was arguably even more impressive in what was only his first WorldTour event, having only joined EF Ecucation First from Continental team Euskadi ahead of the race.
Third-placed Asgreen – just 24 – also continued his rapid rise in what is only the Dane's first full season in the WorldTour with Deceuninck-QuickStep, having joined the Belgian team in April last year.
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