Organizers for the Amgen Tour of California, who have already named Santa Rosa as the start for next May's event, will release a list of the remaining cities for the race on Thursday.
The eight-day cycling event has grown in seven years to be the major race in the United States and draws top international racing teams.
The organizer, AEG Sports of Los Angeles, wants the route to show off California's landscape, from the Sierra to the vineyards to the Pacific Coast.
More than two dozen cities have applied to host either a stage start or finish. The specific route will be announced early next year.
Santa Rosa was left out for the first time last May, but with the promise that it would host the first stage with a start and finish in downtown.
"This is the best event we have, it is a party for the whole town," said Raissa de la Rosa, Santa Rosa's economic development specialist. "This is a great vehicle to showcase the breadth of what Sonoma County has to offer."
De la Rosa heads the local organizing committee that is raising $500,500 to cover the cost of putting on the event, which is expected to have a $6.6 million economic benefit for Sonoma County.
The committee so far has raised $250,000. The major donors are VeloStreet, the non-profit that owns Levi Leipheimer's King Ridge GranFondo, $120,000, and the Santa Rosa Tourism Business Improvement Area, $100,000.
"The hard costs are the lodging, feeding of teams, labor, the things that make common city streets into a sports arena," de la Rosa said.
The eight-day race will start in Santa Rosa on May 13, a Sunday, and end on May 20.
As the first stage, Santa Rosa is planning a week of activities beforehand. They include an event for the teams on Friday night, the Wednesday Night Market is planning to begin its season early for the tour, and a radio station is planning a Thursday night downtown concert.
A community bike is being organized for Saturday, the day before the race begins, and de la Rosa expects that Sonoma County bike clubs and shops also will also host rides the weekend before.
The city is working with Bike Monkey, the organizer of the granfondo, and BMC Racing, the Santa Rosa-based cycling team that won this year's Tour de France, on packages to encourage the professional teams and tourists to arrive a week or two early.
"There is a week-long opportunity that will culminate in the world looking at Santa Rosa and Sonoma County on the 13th," de la Rosa said.
The tour is owned by AEG Sports of Los Angeles, and sponsored by biotech company Amgen, reportedly at $3.6 million a year, and broadcast live on the Versus TV channel.
This year's tour included Lake Tahoe, Auburn, Sacramento, Modesto, Livermore, San Jose, Seaside, Paso Robles, Solvang, Santa Clarita, Thousand Oaks, Claremont and Mt. Baldy.
Next May's host cities will be posted at www.santarosa2012.com.
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