The 2009 Tour of California is set to kick off this Saturday and it marks Lance Armstrong’s return to professional cycling in the United States. All eyes will be on Lance Armstong’s Team Astana as it boasts the Tour of California’s two-time defending champion Levi Leipheimer. The Tour of California is undoubtedly the premier American cycling event and the 2009 edition features one of the greatest fields ever assembled on U.S. soil.
In an article from VeloNews: “The unprecedented field of riders expected to compete in the fourth-annual event, which drew a record 1.6 million spectators in 2008, includes two Tour de France Champions (Armstrong, Sastre), a Giro d’Italia Champion (Basso), 10 World Champions (Armstrong, Boonen, Cancellara, Michael Rogers, Cavendish, Brett Lancaster, Stuart O’Grady, Francisco Chicchi-Jr, Yoroslav Popovych-Jr. and Janez Brajokovic-Jr.), 26 Olympians and eight Olympic medalists (Armstrong, Cancellara, Hamilton, Leipheimer, Gustav Larsson, O’Grady, Rogers and Hayden Roulston) and 25 past and current National Champions.â€
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2009 Tour of California Race Preview:
Winning the Tour of California’s General Classification, just and any other major stage event, comes down to 2 things: the ability to climb and the ability to time trial.
Watch for these names in the General Classification (Overall Time):
Ag2r: Cyril Dessel – 6th in the 2006 Tour de France and won a stage in 2008
Astana: Lance Armstrong – 7 Time Tour de France Champion
Astana: Levi Leipheimer – 2 Time Defending Tour of California Champion
Cervelo TestTeam: Carlos Sastre – 2008 Tour de France Champion
Columbia: Kim Kirchen – 8th in 2008 Tour de France
Columbia: Michael Rogers – 9th in 2006 Tour de France, Australian TT Champion
Garmin-Slipstream: Christian VandeVelde – 5th in 2008 Tour de France
Liquigas: Ivan Basso – 2nd in 2005 Tour de France, 1st in 2006 Giro d’Italia
Ouch: Floyd Landis – Former 2006 Tour de France Champion (Stripped of Title)
Rock Racing: Tyler Hamilton – 2008 U.S. Road Race Champion
Saxo Bank: Jens Voigt – 2nd in 2007 Tour of California
Saxo Bank: Andy Schleck – Best Young Rider in 2008 Tour de France
Saxo Bank: Frank Schleck – 6th in 2008 Tour de France
Expect Levi Leipheimer to win his third straight behind the help of one of the strongest teams the sport has seen (Astana). Lance Armstrong will want a good showing, but expect him to do Leipheimer the favor of being a domestique now in return for Leipheimer’s help during the 2009 Tour. Look for Sastre and VandeVelde to be in the mix with stronger TT abilities and the Schlecks and Ivan Basso to be attacking hard up the mountains. This is as wide open as a field gets and anything can happen with an unexpected breakaway. But it’s tough to pick against Levi Leipheimer, the leader of the strongest team being pulled by a 7-Time Tour de France champion.
Watch for these names in the Points Classification (Points are awarded for finishing position after each stage as well as crossing certain checkpoints first throughout the course):
Cervelo TestTeam: Thor Hushovd – 1st Paris-Nice Points Classification
Columbia: Mark Cavendish – 4 Stages 2008 Tour de France
Columbia: George Hincapie – 1 Stage 2008 Tour of California
Quick Step: Tom Boonen – 2008 Paris-Roubaix Champion, 1 Stage of 2008 ToC
Rabobank: Oscar Freire – 1st in 2008 Tour de France Points Classification
Saxo Bank: Fabian Cancellara – 2008 Olympic TT Champion
Saxo Bank: Stuart O’Grady –2007 Paris-Roubaix Champion
This will be a shootout between Cavendish and Boonen as one of them will take the prize. Fabian Cancellara should be in the mix after he takes the short time trial in the prologue and its tough to leave out Oscar Freire’s name, but the pure sprinting power of Cavendish and Boonen is unparalleled in the peloton. I’ll take Cavendish with the flip of a coin.
Complete rosters can be seen here.
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2009 Tour of California Route and Schedule:
Versus live coverage begins this Saturday. The television schedule and route of the Tour of California is listed below (All times are Central):
Saturday, February 14: – Prologue: Sacramento (4PM) – Time Trial
Sunday, February 15 – Stage 1: Davis to Santa Rosa (5PM) – Flat Stage
Monday, February 16 – Stage 2: Sausalito to Santa Cruz (11:30AM) – Mountain Stage
Tuesday, February 17 – Stage 3: San Jose to Modesto (4PM) – Flat Stage
Wednesday, February 18 – Stage 4: Merced to Clovis (3PM) – Flat Stage
Thursday, February 19 – Stage 5: Visalia to Paso Robles (3PM) – Flat Stage
Friday, February 20 – Stage 6: Solvang Time Trial (3PM) – Time Trial
Saturday, February 21 – Stage 7: Santa Clara to Pasadena (4PM) – Mountain Stage
Sunday, February 22 – Stage 8: Rancho Bernardo to Escondido (4PM) – Mountain Stage
