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The Amgen Tour of California will be returning to Santa Clarita on Monday, May 16 for the stage two finish of the eight-day event that will see the world’s top cyclists race over 700 miles through the state of California, city officials said.

Amgen Tour To Stay In Santa Clarita An Extra Day

Due to the forecast of snow and low temperatures, the Amgen Tour of California organizers have determined that race day conditions will not be safe for riders, officials said.


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Individual Time Trial events were scheduled for Friday, May 15, at Big Bear Lake, and will now be held in the Santa Clarita Valley.

In order to preserve the important Time Trial stage of the 2015 Amgen Tour of California, arrangements are being formalized  to relocate Friday’s Men’s and Women’s Individual Time Trials to the Santa Clarita vicinity.

Santa Clarita officials expressed condolences for Big Bear, due to the work lost on planning the stage. However, the schedule change is expected to provide a greater economic impact locally, officials said.

“My heart really feels for the people in Big Bear,” said Evan Thomason, noting the months of planning that go into hosting a stage.

The planning also will extend the traffic impact of the race for an extra day during the time trial, he said, but the new time trial route was designed to minimize the inconvenience to commuters.

The actual route is not in the city, but Santa Clarita officials facilitated a meeting with Six Flags Magic Mountain, which stepped up to host the event, Thomason added.

The additional day of racing could bring as many as 100 extra hotel room rentals for the local economy, according to official estimates.

Specific details regarding the course, road closures and other important information will be announced on Thursday, May 14 online at www.amgentourofcalifornia.com.

Amgen Tour of California Executive Director Kristin Klein commented, “While we are very disappointed to have to relocate the Individual Time Trials from Big Bear Lake, the safety of all of those affected has always been our primary concern.”

“We are extremely appreciative of everything the Big Bear Lake Organizing Committee has done for us this past year and in years past.  While it is truly unfortunate that the community of Big Bear Lake will not fully capitalize on the impact as expected, our decision had to be based on the safety of the riders, the teams, the fans and residents,” commented Klein.  “We owe everyone in Big Bear Lake a debt of gratitude and look forward to the opportunity to return to Big Bear Lake in the coming years.”

Predicting and reacting to possible inclement weather is always hard and becomes even more so when you factor in a large traveling race caravan including tons of transported equipment. We thank the Tour’s Executive and Race Director Kristin Klein and Jim Birrell, as well as their very professional team along with all of our Funding and Presenting Partners, vendors, 200 plus staff and volunteers who understand tough decisions the Tour needs to make.

While we are disappointed in weather decisions beyond our control, we look forward to being a Host City again to welcome the best race fans and America’s Greatest Race back to Big Bear Lake, CA.”

A full closure of Feedmill Road, between the Magic Mountain Amusement Park parking lot and The Old Road will be in effect, along with the southbound lanes of The Old Road between Magic Mountain Parkway and Turnberry Lane. A full closure of Turnberry Lane from the Old Road to approximately 600 feet west of the Old Road will also be in effect, with access to the front of the office building at 27202 Turnberry Lane. During the trials, the southbound off-ramp from the I-5 Freeway to Rye Canyon Road will also be closed. Most closures are expected to be re-opened by approximately5:00 p.m.

Residents and businesses are strongly urged to utilize SantaClaritaTourofCA.com for detailed traffic information, and social media for minute by minute updates on road closures and openings at: Facebook.com/CityofSantaClarita, Facebook.com/SantaClaritaTourofCA andTwitter.com/SantaClarita.

Due to closures, motorists traveling during the time of the event may be delayed.

While cyclists race through town, emergency response vehicles will have unimpeded access to the entire Santa Clarita Valley for the duration of the event. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies will be deployed along the route to help ensure public safety for participants and motorists, and will enforce posted road closures.

For information on impacted traffic during the Amgen Tour of California Stage 6 Time Trials, please call (661) 250-3787.

For additional details or questions about the Amgen Tour of California, please contact Evan Thomason, Santa Clarita Economic Development Associate, at (661) 286-4167 or ethomason@santa-clarita.com.

Ed. note: The following is a news release provided by Amgen Tour of California. 

With inclement weather making it impossible to hold theFriday, May 15 Amgen Tour of California Time Trial Presented by Lexus as planned at Big Bear Lake, a new course is being primed in Valencia and Santa Clarita for the Men’s and Women’s Individual Time Trial events.

The course for the Stage 6 Time Trial presented by Lexus is expected to be blistering fast. One by one, the world-class cyclists will leave the start house in the Six Flags Magic Mountain parking lot and race 6.6 miles out and back. The riders will have to navigate a series of quick turns as they head out on The Old Road, revisiting roads used in past editions of the race. With no real elevation gain to contend with, this will be a quick, exciting course with plenty of chances for a surprise victor.

As of day five of [the eight days of] racing, with just :22 separating first and second place, and the top-25 race leaders separated by less than one minute, the time trial course is ripe to cause a shake-up to the standings.  Expect contenders for the overall win like Team Sky’s Peter Kennaugh and Sergio Luis Henao Montoya, Lawson Craddock (Team Giant-Alpecin), Daniel Alexander Jaramillo Diez (Jamis-Hagens Berman p/b Sutter Home) and former race champion Robert Gesink (Team LottoNL-Jumbo) to do battle, using the time trial to try to put some time distance between themselves and overall contenders including Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish.

The time trial winner will gain a significant amount of time to increase his gap over the competition, so expect riders to go all-out to improve their standings leading into a very tough race day that ends at the top of Mt. Baldy on Saturday. This includes the tight competition for the SRAM Best Young Rider Jersey, where the top-5 riders are separated by only :03.

“Everything about this course is primed to deliver fast, exciting racing,” said race director Jim Birrell. “This is the day when the riders will be trying their best to shore up their positions, and where every second matters. On this fairly short course, the result is really anyone’s guess because there is room for a specialty rider to take the cake from the big hitters in the general classification. Either way, we anticipate a very aggressive attempt for the win.”

The UCI sanctioned Amgen Tour of California Women’s Invitational Time Trial empowered with SRAM, will precede the men’s Individual Time Trial (Stage 6). Twenty-three of the best women time trialists including Olympic Gold Medal winner Kristin Armstrong will compete in the invitational event on the same route. The women begin at 11:00 a.m., with the men following at 12:47 p.m.  The 6.6-mile race is ranked 1.1 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the highest race classification behind a World Cup.

Jackie Crowell, an Amgen Tour of California Ambassador, will be competing under the Breakaway from Cancer® banner in her first professional race since she was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2013. Breakaway from Cancer® is Amgen’s initiative to raise awareness of the important resources available to people affected by cancer.

“This ability to relocate Friday’s Time Trial would never have happened had it not been for the incredible cooperation of agencies and organizations such as the County of Los Angeles, CalTrans, the California Highway Patrol, Los Angeles County Sheriff, the Cities of Santa Clarita and Valencia and Six Flags Magic Mountain,” said Kristin Bachochin Klein, Executive Director, Amgen Tour of California.  “We also thank the Big Bear Lake Local Organizing Committee for all their hard work in preparing for the time trial and appreciate their cooperation in moving Stage 6 due to weather and road conditions.”

Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or drop us a line at community@hometownstation.com.

KHTS AM 1220 - Santa Clarita Radio

Amgen Tour To Stay In Santa Clarita An Extra Day

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About Perry Smith

Perry Smith is a print and broadcast journalist who has won several awards for his focused, hyperlocal community coverage in several different regions of the country. In addition to five years of experience covering the Santa Clarita Valley, Smith, a San Fernando Valley native, has worked in newspapers and news websites in Los Angeles, the Northwest, the Central Valley and the South, before coming to KHTS in 2012. To contact Smith, email him at Perry@hometownstation.com.