Tour of California - Recap

Wow! Almost two million people caught the Amgen Tour of California live. That is just incredible! You can’t stuff that many people in a stadium to see the Superbowl, but cycling allows throngs of people to line the course and get into the excitement of the sport.

Let’s first talk about George Hincapie. He wanted to win a stage so badly this year that I had a feeling he would have done just about everything to cross that line first. With his vast experience he played the final stage like a finely tuned instrument and crossed the line with three lengths to spare. I felt bad that Zirbel wasn’t able to finish it up, but the man went out solo with over 27 miles to go. My thighs burn just thinking about it.

It was nice to see Floyd Landis hanging out at the finish line. As the inaugural winner of the Tour of California and rightful winner of the 2006 Tour de France he deserves to go anywhere he wants and get a strong, supportive reception. I really hope the guy gets vindicated.

What can I say about Levi Leipheimer? He’s just the man and that’s that. The ASO has really screwed him and the rest of Astana by barring them from the Tour and other associated ASO races. Make sure you stop by Let Levi Ride and sign the protest petition.

The Amgen Tour of California has in three years become one of the premier cycling races in the world. That’s a great thing, and the fact that there seems to be more pro-tour level teams based in the U.S. than ever, this is a good year for American cycling.