The massive roadshow that is the Amgen Tour of California will sprint into downtown Santa Rosa today, capping 729 miles of racing that included 63,300 feet of climbing, some rig-rocking sprints and temperatures that hit 114 degrees in an early stage.
Today's 81-mile stage from San Francisco marks the first time Santa Rosa -- a preeminent player in the tour's eight-year history -- has hosted the race's overall finish.
Today's finish in downtown Santa Rosa will likely feel more fleeting than last year's daylong, suspense-packed stage. In 2012, cyclists began and ended the day in Santa Rosa, circling back once partway through the stage.
Nonetheless, fans of the sport are thrilled to have the race ending in Sonoma County for the first time.
"The tour finish is huge," said Phil Scheidler, manager of Santa Rosa's Trek Bicycle Store, which will host a reception for team RadioShack-Leopard-Trek this afternoon. "The tour is not going to be decided on who wins it here, but the excitement of the whole finish -- for a lot of us who follow the Tour de France, it's always on the streets of Paris, but now it's on the streets of Santa Rosa."
Today's route will bring the cyclists into Santa Rosa shortly after 11 a.m. via West Third Street. More than 100 riders will enter the downtown circuit, where they will complete two laps between Brookwood Avenue and Wilson Street before crossing the finish line on Third Street at Santa Rosa Avenue.
In a change from last year, when a festival of food purveyors, bike vendors and activity booths packed Old Courthouse Square for more than four hours, this year's festival is expected to get rolling at about 10 a.m. but shut down by 12:30 p.m. just after the tour's final awards ceremony.
"It's a traveling circus, and only a portion of that circus is ours," said Raissa de la Rosa, the city of Santa Rosa's economic development specialist who is in charge of the local tour organizing committee.
When the yellow jersey is pulled on by the overall winner after eight days of racing, the winding down is expected to be swift, she said.
"They're done," she said. "The tear-down starts happening."
Also unlike years past, there will be no food vendors in the square -- an effort by organizers to encourage people to patronize local restaurants.
"This will be a much shorter affair downtown, but we are encouraging people to stay and eat and drink downtown so we are not doing a lot of food booths," said Brad Calkins, executive director of the Santa Rosa Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The change from last year's all-day, out-and-back race route to this year's fast finish has left businesses prepping for hordes but maintaining a wait-and-see attitude. Expectations have pegged the anticipated crowd at 40,000.
"We have always had a pizza booth . . . and there isn't one this year. Again, it's so people spill into the restaurants," said Sue Kade, owner of La Vera Pizza on Fourth Street. "There are so many cycling enthusiasts in Sonoma County, and we think they will be packed downtown. Will that translate to business? We just don't know."
"It's always a fabulous event, whether it's a terrific economic (boost) or not," she said.
Caitlin Kurasek, co-owner of La Rosa Tequileria & Grille, is opening her Old Courthouse Square restaurant early and adding staffing in anticipation of large crowds.
"We are opening at 10:30 a.m.," she said. "Last year the restaurant filled up faster than I think I have ever seen any restaurant fill up. As soon as (the race) ends, everyone comes in. We think it's going to be a crazy day like that."
Keith Hotaling, co-owner of Treehorn Books on Fourth Street, said he does not expect sales to skyrocket today, but said exposure is valuable.
"I don't know if people will come in and buy a book, but anything that brings (people) downtown is good for us," he said. "I think it's great."
Backers also are banking on the two hours of live network TV on NBC that is slated to begin at 10 a.m. and follow racers into Santa Rosa and onto the podium.
Previous stages of this year's tour have been shown on NBC Sports Network.
"That's a lot larger audience," Calkins said of the TV exposure.
But what it will mean for the area is hard to quantify, he said.
The organizing committee raised $325,000 to pay for food, hotel rooms and other services associated with the event. No general fund money is used, de la Rosa said. The committee had to raise $540,000 last year, when the city hosted the overall start, because teams arrived at least three days prior to opening day and there were multiple events leading up to the race launch.
It is unclear whether the scores of hotel rooms booked for teams will in fact be full or whether riders will take advantage of the early finish and catch flights home.
Eighty percent of the rooms at the Flamingo Conference Resort and Spa in Santa Rosa are dedicated to two race teams, course marshals and others associated with the tour, said Dan Brown, director of sales and marketing for the hotel.
Brown said that Sunday night is typically a tough night to book rooms, so hoteliers are looking at the event as a boon.
The city is backing a private gala tonight and readying for a crowd of 500 riders, support crew and others.
"This is an opportunity to party," de la Rosa said. "They are almost cloistered for eight days. It's nice just to stop for a minute, and this is a nice place to do it."
You can reach Staff Writer Kerry Benefield at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@press democrat.com or on Twitter @benefield.
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