Amgen Tour of California

Amgen Tour of California starts at South Shore Lake Tahoe

The largest cycling event in America, the 2011 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 from May 15-22.

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The 2011 Amgen Tour of California’s overall start will begin on the south shore of Lake Tahoe, one of the most beautiful locations in all of the state. The race will roll-out through the Host City of South Lake Tahoe and head in a clockwise direction up the western shore of Lake Tahoe, where the riders will encounter the first of three KOMs (“King of [the] Mountain [climbs]”) on this stage at Emerald Bay (elev. 6,850’). The race will then continue north and descend into Tahoe City while working its way through the small towns on the north shore and past the casinos in Stateline, Nevada. The race will then continue to hug the shoreline on Lakeshore Blvd., ultimately connecting with Hwy. 28 to make the return trip to South Lake Tahoe. This will be the first time the Amgen Tour of California will venture outside of the Golden State. The 27 miles of race route in Nevada will provide compelling scenery, including Spooner Pass (elev. 7,000’), the second of the day’s KOMs, from which the beautiful blue waters of Lake Tahoe can be seen. Continuing south, the race will pass through South Lake Tahoe and head back north for another half lap around the lake. At King’s Beach on the north shore of the lake, the racers will make a left turn on Hwy. 267 and start the final 7.5 run to the finish, but waiting for them will be the 1,000’ climb to Brockway Summit that will take them to the highest point of the stage at 7,200’. After a quick descent and a left turn onto Northstar Dr., the racers will face the final 300’ of climbing up the 1.5-mile route to the finish in North Lake Tahoe at the spectacular Northstar at Tahoe Resort.