Top names in cycling heading to Santa Rosa for Amgen Tour of California

Some of the fastest, strongest and most tenacious professional cyclists in the world will climb, sprint and strategize through Sonoma County on Saturday as the Amgen Tour of California rides through Wine Country.

The 11th running of the race - billed as America’s most prestigious annual cycling event - returns to Sonoma County after a two-year break with a field of 10 International Cycling Union WorldTour teams, the most in race history, and some of the top individual cyclists in the world and several local riders.

The men’s 109-mile Stage 7 is a crucial one, a day after an individual time trial in Folsom and one day before the overall finish line in Sacramento on Sunday.

In addition to the men’s race, the second women’s Tour of California will be part of the inaugural UCI Women’s WorldTour - and as such, the best women’s teams and riders will participate. Stage 3 of the four-stage women’s race will roll through Sonoma County on a shorter route, but also start and finish downtown.

Local cycling experts weighed in on who among the 144 world-class men looks to challenge for the podium in Santa Rosa Saturday afternoon and the overall finish a day later.

Last year’s winner, Peter Sagan, a charismatic 26-year-old Slovakian riding with the Russian team Tinkoff, looks to be among the top contenders.

“He’s the biggest draw in cycling right now,” said Bret Gave, owner of the Trek bike store on Mendocino Avenue downtown. “He’s got all the skills.”

Sagan, a strong sprinter, is the current world champ and this year’s points leader in UCI rankings. He also has the most Tour of California stage wins of any rider, 13.

“I’m really looking forward to coming back to this race,” Sagan said. “It’s a great event at which I have some really good memories. This year will be a very difficult edition, and not quite suited to my style, but stage by stage we will see what we can do.”

Gavin Chilcott, the chief operating officer of Santa Rosa-based BMC Racing, said Sagan will be a big player in the race.

“His form is good,” he said. “What’s interesting is he’s not a climbing specialist, so he’ll have to limit his losses on the climbing stages.

“But he’s a once-in-a-generation rider, so he’s probably capable of more on the climbs than a non-specialist would typically be.”

The six Sonoma County climbs total an 8,600-foot elevation rise, but are not long compared to those in international competitions, so pure climbers aren’t necessarily the only ones who can succeed, he said.

This year’s race is rich with quality sprinters who will push Sagan, including Mark Cavendish of Dimension Data, Alexander Kristoff of Katusha, John Degenkolb of Giant-Alpecin, Niccolo Bonifazio of Trek-Segafredo and Bryan Coquard of Direct Energie.

Santa Rosa cyclist Levi Leipheimer, who won the Tour of California in 2007, 2008 and 2009, predicted several serious challengers for the top spot on the podium.

Brad Wiggins of TeamWiggins, a British entry, and Andrew Telansky of the Cannondale Pro Cycling Team from the U.S. could be there at the end, Leipheimer said.

Wiggins, 35, won the Tour of California in 2014 and the Tour de France in 2012.

“The course suits (Telansky). He can climb and is a good time-trialist,” Leipheimer said.

BMC Racing’s Rohan Dennis “could be the biggest favorite,” he added.

Last year’s runner-up by three seconds, Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe of Ettix-Quick-Step, will likely push Sagan, as will American Taylor Phinney of BMC. American Lawson Craddock with Cannondale should also challenge.

“I have some beautiful memories from last year, despite losing the general classification for a handful of seconds,” Alaphilippe said. “At that time I was disappointed, but it’s all bygones now as I’m coming to the U.S. motivated to try and go for another good performance.”

Leipheimer said he’s been impressed with the comeback of Santa Rosa rider Pete Stetina of Trek-Segafredo, a U.S.-based team.

Stetina, 29, crashed into a pole in the roadway during a race in Spain last year, an injury that kept him hospitalized for weeks with multiple broken bones and required major surgery on his right leg.

Gave, of the Trek store in Santa Rosa, predicts Stetina will be one of the best climbers and could be a top-10 finisher overall.

In team rankings, Tinkoff, Sky and BMC are ranked 1, 2 and 4 in worldwide points this year.

Chilcott said BMC, the top American team in the world, is bringing a deep and strong cast.

Dennis has overall aspirations and Phinney, working toward a spot on the U.S. Olympic team this summer in Rio de Janeiro, will compete for the best time trial.

American Brent Bookwalter, Belgian Greg Van Avermaet and Spaniard Sammy Sanchez, the Olympic gold medal winner in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, could pick up stage victories for BMC, Chilcott said.

This year’s women’s race is the second for the Tour of California and is the first North American stage of the UCI Women’s WorldTour.

Seven of the top 10 UCI-ranked teams will compete, including current No. 1 Wiggle High5 of England. In total, 18 teams from Argentina, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and nine American teams will field cyclists.

Kristin Armstrong of Tennessee, the most decorated female cyclist in U.S. history, will ride for Twenty16-Ridebiker of the U.S.

At age 42, Armstrong has six national championship titles in time trials and road races, and two world time trial titles.

She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and is also preparing for Rio.

Petaluma resident Alison Tetrick of Cylance Pro Cycling, the 10th-ranked team in the world and No. 1 U.S. team, will race on her home training ground. She owns the fastest women’s time for Levi’s GranFondo.

Other top female riders will include Evelyn Stevens of Claremont, who won last year’s time trial; fellow Californian Allie Dragoo, riding for Twenty16; and Megan Guarnier of New York, the reigning road race national champion and bronze medalist at the 2015 road race world championships.

Guarnier’s team, Boels-Dolman from the Netherlands, is currently ranked second in the world behind Wiggle High5, followed by Raboliv, also from the Netherlands, and Canyon SRAM of Germany.

The women’s race starts in South Lake Tahoe on Thursday with a full, clockwise 72-mile loop of Lake Tahoe, like the first stage last year.

The high-altitude route features an early climb at Emerald Bay on the west shore before reaching Incline Village. As the race traverses the hilly east shore, teams will work to set up contenders for the steep uphill finish at Heavenly Mountain Resort, a 1-mile climb at a 7 percent average grade.

Fans are expected to watch the action from boats, paddle boards and bikes throughout the loop.

Stage 2 is a team time trial in Folsom, a first for the women in the Tour of California. The teams will race on the same time trial course as the men, out and back from downtown Folsom.

Stage 3 in Sonoma County features another long loop, 64 miles over rolling terrain from downtown Santa Rosa westward, with a climb on Coleman Valley Road, and back to downtown.

Race experts expect aggressive riding before the race returns to downtown for three laps and the finish, which should come about an hour after the men’s group embarks.

The overall champion will be decided the following day in Sacramento after 20 downtown laps on wide, fast roads.

Last year’s exciting general classification win for Trixi Worrack of Germany came down to sprint time bonuses and the final sprint.

You can reach Lori A. Carter at 521-5470 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @loriacarter.