Sacramento: See Lance Armstrong in Amgen Tour of California, and do a little touring yourself

On Feb. 14, the Amgen Tour of California, the largest cycling event in the U.S., will begin in Sacramento. All eyes will be on the cyclists, especially seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, as they dart down a flat 2.4-mile course through the streets of our state’s capital for the prologue.

The tour, which will find top cyclists on an 800-mile course southbound through the state, will end in Escondido, in San Diego County, on Feb. 22, zooming through Davis, Santa Cruz, Paso Robles and Solvang, among other cities, along the way.

[Pictured above is Lance Armstrong on Jan. 18, 2009, in the prelude to the Tour Down Under, in Adelaide, Australia. Click on the photo to see a full gallery.]

Armstrong will be racing with the Astana Cycling Team. For those eager for a first glimpse of the buzz-generating Texan — as well as the many other world-class pros in the race like Fabian Cancellara — plan on being in Sacramento for the Valentine’s Day weekend. The city is going all out to welcome visitors for race events.

First, on Feb. 12, if you’ve got $300 or more to splash out on a ticket, join the participating cyclists at the Race Opening Gala, an evening of dinner and entertainment. And at 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 14, the public is invited to cycle the route that the prologue racers will tackle a little later in the day (the prologue begins at 1:30 p.m). Find out more in the online schedule of events.

And, of course, special Amgen hotel packages are on offer. Rates start at $84 per night (pre-tax) at the Courtyard by Marriott Rancho Cordova. For location, the Holiday Inn Capitol Plaza seems a good bet if you’re going to the Amgen events; in downtown Sacramento and close to the State Capitol, its special rate is $134 per night.

– Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images]

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This entry was posted on Friday, January 23, 2009 at 2:05 pm by Susan Derby and is filed under California, Northern California, Outdoors & Adventure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.