Today Mayor Laurene Weste and other city officials stood with professional cyclist Ken Hanson and announced the planned route for the Santa Clarita portion of the 2007 Amgen Tour of California.

Stage 6 will enter Santa Clarita from Highway 126 and weave its way through the industrial center to McBean Parkway. Once on McBean, the riders will come down to Valencia Blvd, take that to Tourney, to Magic Mountain Parkway, and back down to McBean, finishing in front of the Town Center.  

Santa Clarita is the finishing point for stage 6, which many have called one of the more difficult stages in the competition. Stage 6 begins in Santa Barbara and winds its way through four mountain sections, two sprints and a finishing circuit.

“The day after a time trial, and it being so close to the end, as well as the terrain this stage has, its going to make it quite difficult,” said Ken Nelson, who will be racing as part of the BMC Team.

The tour is the premier bicycle race in California and last year over 1.3 million people flocked to the roadside to see it. The race is comprised of 7 stages and 8 days of bicycling, that will take some of the worlds most premier cyclists from San Francisco to Long Beach.

It is estimated that 100,000 spectators will line the streets of the route in Santa Clarita alone, to witness stage 6. Also, with it being the second to last stage, Santa Clarita will witness a time in the race, when a favorite could very likely emerge.

Jon Dell
KHTS AM 1220 News