Sonoma County will see a reversal of fortune with this year’s AMGEN Tour of California (ATOC), as Santa Rosa has been chosen for the final stage of America’s premier cycling event, a year after hosting the first stage.
Santa Rosa has hosted a stage of six of the seven races thus far and for the first time in the eight-year history of the race, the route will go south to north beginning in Escondido.
“The finish is not nearly as much work (as the start), but it’s very prestigious,” Economic Development Specialist and Co-Chair of the ATOC local organizing committee Raissa de la Rosa said. “From a marketing standpoint, it’s awesome. Our name is mentioned a lot more with a first or final stage.”
De la Rosa said that although preparation for the first stage was difficult, the returns were well worth it.
“The economic impact was higher than we expected, with hotels and meals, and we didn’t expect all the equipment sales and services and the extra stuff they needed to get down the road,” she said.
Last year, some of the teams come into town several weeks in advance to train, with all teams coming to the area eight days before the race to check in and do their final preparations.
City estimates for the economic activity generated last year are about $7 million, which was “fairly conservative,” according to De la Rosa.
This year’s impact is expected to be about $1.5 million, along with the exposure Sonoma County will gain and the excitement that will be generated for the cycling community and an expected 30,000 cycling fans descending on the finish line.
The race will begin in Escondido on May 12 with a 104-mile stage and then the route will run through 13 host cities, and include a finish at the top of the 3,864-foot peak of Mount Diablo.
The final stage will begin in San Francisco, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, where for only the third time in the past 52 years, the bridge will be entirely closed for an event. The other times were in 1960 for a visit from France’s President Charles de Gaulle and in 2009 for the ATOC.
Escondido and Santa Rosa will become the first cities in the history of the race to have hosted both an overall start and an overall finish.
“It’s amazing to watch,” De la Rosa said. “When they’re here, you can feel the energy and the power. It’s attainable to some degree: we may not be professionals, but we can get on a bike and ride.”
It’s going to be a busy weekend and traffic may be difficult in the Santa Rosa area.
“Getting around downtown Santa Rosa is going to present some challenges,” Lt. Jerry Soares of the Santa Rosa Police Department said. “We’ll be blocking the downtown area for the Rosa Parade and it will remain closed throughout the weekend, as they’ll need time to set up for the race.”
Beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Mendocino Avenue will be closed from First to Fourth streets and Third Street will be closed from B to D streets, with additional closures beginning Sunday morning.
Go to www.tourrosa.com for a map and timeline of street closures.
It’s going to be a busy weekend and traffic impacts will bleed over into some West County roads, particularly on Sunday morning. The 119th Annual Rose Parade will take place on Saturday, May 18 and the Windsor Half Marathon will create its own traffic issues on Sunday, with 1,500 expected participants along with necessary support.
The California Highway Patrol will be in charge of traffic control for ATOC, which will enter Sonoma County on Freestone Valley Ford Road, proceeding to Bodega Highway and up Jonive Road to Occidental Road for a fast finish into Santa Rosa.
The Windsor Half Marathon will experience “rolling road closures” on Windsor Road to Shiloh and Eastside Road northbound will be closed from Healdsburg Trenton to Old Redwood Highway from approximately 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.
The peloton will be coming from the north at about the time Windsor is ending, but no overlap is expected between the two events.
“There should be no traffic effect in Windsor,” De la Rosa said. “We’re expecting them between 11:10 and 11:30 a.m. It’s a fast race this year, since they are coming in from Freestone and not up over Coleman Valley Road.”
The television production of the race will end at noon, so the awards ceremony for ATOC should take place by 11:45 a.m.
Hundreds of volunteers are still needed on race day to help with the logistics of the race. Additionally, volunteers are needed on Friday and Saturday, May 17 and 18, to help prepare to host the race finale.
Volunteers serve primarily as course marshals, monitoring intersections and street barricades to make sure spectators and traffic do not interfere with riders. But there are many other volunteer slots that need to be filled ranging from placing signage along the course on Friday to cleaning up the festival and finish areas on Sunday afternoon.
Volunteers should expect to donate about four hours of their time to the job. In return, they’ll get a T-shirt, an up-close view of the race and “the satisfaction of being a key part of a great community and international event.”
To sign up, go to www.tourrosa.com.
The Sunday morning race will be accompanied by the tour’s traveling Lifestyle Festival, with exhibitors and vendors in a festive atmosphere in Courthouse Square and along Mendocino Avenue.
The 3013 AMGEN
Tour of California
• Stage 1: Sunday, May 12 — Escondido, 104.3 miles
• Stage 2: Monday, May 13 — Murrieta to Greater Palm Springs, 126.1 miles
• Stage 3: Tuesday, May 14 — Palmdale to Santa Clarita, 111.8 miles
• Stage 4: Wednesday, May 15 — Santa Clarita to Santa Barbara, 84.7 miles
• Stage 5: Thursday, May 16 — Santa Barbara to Avila Beach, 116.4 miles
• Stage 6: Friday, May 17 — San Jose (Individual Time Trial), 19.6 miles
• Stage 7: Saturday, May 18 — Livermore to Summit of Mount Diablo, 93 miles
• Stage 8: Sunday, May 19 — San Francisco to Santa Rosa, 86.2 miles
For details, go to www.amgentourofcalifornia.com or www.tourrosa.com.
