Ed. Note: This article article was given to KHTS courtesy of SCVNews

The Amgen Tour of California cycle race, which has included Santa Clarita as a host city for 13 stages since it began in 2006, will skip the city in 2018.

Tour of California owner-presenter AEG released the list of host cities Thursday for next year’s race, which will cover more than 600 miles of roadway through the state from Long Beach north to Sacramento between May 13-19.

The ATOC city closest to Santa Clarita, Ventura, is a first-time destination in 2018. Other cities next year include San Jose, Folsom, South Lake Tahoe, King City and Stockton.

Related: Rally Cycling’s Evan Huffman Finishes First In Santa Clarita, Fourth Stage Amgen Tour Of California

Santa Clarita’s 13 stages, most recently the 2017 Stage 4 finish on May 17, total more than any other host city in the ATOC’s 13-year history.

“The Tour of California likes to mix up the routes a lot, and we think it’s exciting that they have Ventura as a host city this year,” said Evan Thomason, Santa Clarita economic development associate.

“The Amgen Tour of California and Santa Clarita have had a great partnership going back to 2007, the second year of the tour,” he said. “We’re very proud Santa Clarita has had the most stages of any one city. The race organizers have been very complimentary.”

Past Tour of California stops in Santa Clarita have had immediate and lasting benefit, Thomason said.

“We did a study years ago that showed we got an estimated $1 million in economic impact for a finish in our city,” he said. “This year we were looking for a start so it would have been a little bit (less). But certainly, it’s a big benefit to the local economy.

“One benefit, in particular, is hotel rooms,” he said. “Last race (in May) we had almost 700 hotel rooms booked that were a direct result of the Amgen Tour of California. So it’s certainly a benefit to our hotel partners. But there are many other benefits as well, including the publicity Santa Clarita gets as a sports destination.”

Related: Amgen Tour To Close Streets, Impact Traffic

There’s always next year, as the saying goes.

“We wish them the best for this year,” Thomason said. “We think it’s going to be an amazing year and look forward to partnering with them again the future. I’m absolutely certain the Amgen Tour of California will roll through our streets once again.”

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