Santa Rosa to host Stage 7 of 2016 Amgen Tour of California

After a two-year hiatus, the Amgen Tour of California, the nation's premiere professional cycling race, will return to Sonoma County next May for a potentially pivotal out-and-back stage that will start and finish in Santa Rosa, giving the city another chance to burnish the county's reputation as a world-class cycling destination.

Tour owner AEG Sports announced Thursday that Santa Rosa has been selected to host the seventh stage of the eight-day race on Saturday, May 21, the same day as the city's annual Luther Burbank Rose Parade and Festival.

Details of how the two popular downtown events will be coordinated have yet to be worked out. But organizers say they are confident they can pull off both events simultaneously in a way that combines the international appeal of professional cycling with the local color of a parade now in its 122nd year.

'It's fantastic that we have the Tour back,' said Raissa de la Rosa, the city's economic development specialist and co-chairwoman of the local organizing committee.

The committee announced earlier this month that it had been selected to host a stage, but no details were released at that time. AEG Sports was set to hold a press conference in San Diego Thursday identifying the location and basic routes of each stage.

The race will run south to north next year, beginning in San Diego on Sunday, May 15, and ending in Sacramento on Sunday, May 22. It's only the second time in the tour's 10-year history the course has run south to north, de la Rosa said.

The second-to-last stage will start and finish in Santa Rosa, with male — and for the first time, female — riders taking west county routes that likely will mirror some sections of the challenging terrain featured in the Levi's GranFondo ride, de la Rosa said.

'Every day the beauty of Sonoma County astounds me, and to be able to have that showcased on an international stage is thrilling for me both from a personal and from an economic development standpoint,' she said.

De la Rosa said it will cost about $300,000 to host the stage, including funds to cover additional law enforcement and public works personnel and lodging costs for race teams and event staff. Donations from sponsors including businesses, the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce and other benefactors will help cover the expenses.

City leaders applauded the return of the tour and the committee's hard work to maintain close ties with race organizers.

It will be the eighth time since the race began in 2006 that Santa Rosa will host a stage, further cementing the strong relationship between the race and the city, the hometown of three-time race winner Levi Leipheimer.

Santa Rosa City Councilman and avid cyclist Gary Wysocky called it 'wonderful' that the county would host the second-to-last stage of the tour because it means all eyes will be on the county to see how the riders handle its mountainous terrain.

'This could be a very decisive stage. I imagine it will be very challenging,' Wysocky said.

Jonathan Coe, president of the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce, said the business community is excited to have the race return not only for the direct economic benefit it brings but also for the positive publicity the county receives as a destination for cycling and tourism in general.

'It's a great opportunity to showcase what we have to offer to a very wide and large audience,' Coe said. 'They've got those helicopter shots of the tour going by with the ocean or the mountains in the background. It's pretty powerful.'

De la Rosa said the one-day stage is expected to result in an economic impact of roughly $1.3 million for area businesses.

The city played a crucial role in putting the tour on the map in 2006. An estimated 35,000 people packed downtown sidewalks, rooftops and parking garages to watch 127 of the world's top riders dash toward the finish of a stage that began in Sausalito and ended 81 grueling miles later in downtown Santa Rosa.

Between 2006 and 2013, the city hosted a stage in seven of eight races, with the exception of 2011.

That run is estimated to have pumped $20 million into the local economy. Local supporters, buoyed in part by Leipheimer's winning the race in 2007, 2008 and 2009, raised more than $1.2 million to help put on the race. That amount includes donations from Levi's GranFondo, the group ride founded by Leipheimer.

In 2012, the city hosted the coveted overall start to the race, which boosted the economic impact and visibility of the event because it drew hundreds of riders, team support staff and media to the city for several days prior to the start. The following year in 2013, the city hosted the equally coveted overall finish.

But citing 'donor fatigue,' the city announced that it would not seek the tour in 2014. The news came after Leipheimer admitted in late 2012 to using banned substances and doping for years with teammate and disgraced seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. Leipheimer was suspended from cycling and retired from the sport in 2013.

City representatives tried to get the tour to return in 2015, but were disappointed when Sacramento was selected as a race start instead.

They kept talking to race organizers about a variety of options, the main prohibition for the city being that the race needed to be on a weekend due to concerns about snarling commute traffic, de la Rosa said.

Another challenge came when race officials, hoping not to have the race fall on Mother's Day, pushed it back a week. That created a potential conflict with the Rose Parade, which takes place over several hours downtown every year.

'My first thought was, 'Oh, no. What are we going to do?' ' said Judy Walker, parade manager.

But as she talked to committee officials, Walker said she realized that it actually can work to the advantage of both organizations. For one, the two groups will be able to share some expenses for costs both incur, such as paying for roads to be closed and increased law enforcement staffing, she said.

'It'll work out nicely,' Walker said.

The most likely scenario is that the male riders will leave in the morning, followed by the women, who are for the first time participating in a four-day stage race as part of the tour. Once the riders are out on the course, the parade will hit the streets for a couple hours.

'While they're out biking around, we'll have a parade,' Walker said. 'It's kind of a nice little window.'

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @srcitybeat.