2008 Woodie Awards
Tour of California rolls through Santa Rosa
35,000 pack into downtown as world-class cyclists race to the finish of Stage 1
Scott Ma, Staff Writer
Issue date: 3/8/06 Section: Sports
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Floyd Landis of San Diego maintained a steady lead the final five days of the eight-day Tour of California from Feb. 19-26 to clinch the golden jersey and victory in the race's highly anticipated debut.
Landis' march to the overall lead began when he won the third stage on Feb. 22 in San Jose, where his time of 35'56" bested those of fellow Americans David Zabriskie (35'30") and Bobby Julich (35'21"), both of Team CSC (Computer Sciences Corporation). From that point to Feb. 26, Landis barely, but successfully held on to the slim overall lead as the cyclists cruised into Redondo Beach, the tour's seventh and final stage. After all was said and done, Landis admits he was pretty lucky.
"I was fortunate to win the time trial and then I just tried to maintain the race lead," Landis said in an Associated Press interview, all in a state of speechlessness and shock. "What can you expect me to say? I'm happy and I'm an hour away from home."
For Landis, winning the first annual Tour of California added to his impressive résumé of cycling achievements. Last year at the Tour de France, he placed ninth overall, his best finish in four years of competition in that race. Now in his eighth year as a professional cyclist, he has won individual races from California to Malaysia, and been a part of team time trial stage wins in the Tour de France and Tour of Spain. But his reaction upon winning the California tour indicates that this victory was special in that it came a short distance from his San Diego residence.
Levi Leipheimer knows that feeling very well. As a member of Team GST (Gerolsteiner) and a Santa Rosa native, he was elated after taking the Tour of California prologue on Feb. 19 in San Francisco because the victory enabled him to wear the Amgen leader's jersey on the first stage from Sausalito to downtown Santa Rosa.
"This is a dream come true," said Leipheimer in a San Francisco Chronicle interview. "Words cannot describe how I feel going into my home town as the leader of the Tour of California."
Leipheimer also said that prologues had not been his strength, but quickly noted that this one, which featured a steep climb up to Coit Tower in San Francisco, was right up his alley. There to cheer him and the rest of the peloton on were some 200,000 people, who witnessed the pride of Santa Rosa lead an American sweep of the top five spots, which included Bobby Julich, Floyd Landis, David Zabriskie, and George Hincapie. Hincapie, a former teammate of retired seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong and current member of the Discovery team, couldn't help but praise the crowd's support.
"The crowd was amazing," he said. "At the start, the crowd was so loud they gave [me] goose bumps."
Leipheimer agreed. He even went so far as to say this race felt like the Tour de France, and that it seemed like he was riding on air. Julich described the crowd's support in another unique way.
"It made my hair stand up," he said.
No question was the crowd an enormous jolt for the athletes, cycling, and the event. It is estimated that more than 1.3 million people populated the streets of California to enjoy the thrill of witnessing the world's best cyclists go head-to-head across some of the most beautiful landscapes the state has to offer.
From San Francisco to San Jose, Monterey to San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara to Redondo Beach, members of the peloton consistently showed amazing passion and energy throughout, which sparked loud approval from the throngs of excited spectators. With the crowd's support and expanded coverage, the Tour of California figures to have huge potential in the state and across the country, while already establishing itself as one of the world's premier events on the cycling calendar. Mike Plant, a board member of the United States Olympic Committee, recently said in an online interview with Amgen that this race also carries a certain unique aura that everyone can embrace.
"Whether you are a fan who follows and appreciates elite-level sports competitions or are witnessing the amazing and exciting sport of road racing for the first time, I can guarantee the excitement and caliber of competition will be unlike anything you have ever witnessed," Plant said.