Cycling: On May 15th, the Amgen Tour of California will start for the 11th time in sunny California - the eight-stage race this year boasts a top-class field of riders - including road world champion and last year's winner Peter Sagan ( Tinkoff) and top sprinter Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data).
This year, ten WorldTour teams will be at the start of the varied stage race in the south-west of the USA – supplemented by strong second division teams such as Direct Énergie and UnitedHealthcare. As the ASO already announced, the top teams will by no means travel to the United States with their second guard. Last year's winner and road world champion Peter Sagan, who is already looking forward to it, will also be part of Tinkoff's Russian team: “The Amgen Tour of California is one of my favorite races of the season. I've always performed well and had the honor of wearing yellow."
The Slovak faces competition this year primarily from Mark Cavendish and also from Katusha's man Alexander Kristoff – both of them are undoubtedly also candidates for overall victory and probably the biggest contenders for day victories in the flat stages. Kristoff, who will be at the start in California for the first time, is already declaring war on his British competitor: “I'm hoping to be able to beat Mark Cavendish in the sprints at the Tour of California in May. In our first race together this year, the Qatar tour, it worked out. But I also know that Cav won some stages in California last year and that Sagan took the general classification.”
One of the five Continental teams taking part will also be the British team WIGGINS around Bradley Wiggins, who is currently competing for medals on a different terrain at the Track World Championships in London. In California, Wiggo and his team primarily want to prepare for the Olympics: "This time I'm bringing my own team - it's part of our preparation for Rio. The Tour of California is one of the most beautiful races in the world and we have some great talent on the team. I'm really excited to see what we can tear!"
Also interesting: The Tour of California takes place at the same time as the Giro d'Italia. This means that the first Grand Tour of the season will take place without Peter Sagan, without Alexander Kristoff and also without Mark Cavendish. The latter should be of particular interest to Marcel Kittel (Etixx – Quick-Step), who had toyed with the idea of starting the Giro again and again this year. Without Cavendish he would have at least one strong competitor less for the sprint wins.
Tour of California 2016: teams
WorldTour
- BMC Racing Team (USA)
- Cannondale Pro Cycling Team (USA)
- Etixx – Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (BEL)
- Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka (RSA)
- Team Giant – Alpecin (GER)
- Team KATUSHA (RUS)
- Team Lotto NL – Jumbo (NED)
- Team Sky (GBR)
- Tinkov (RUS)
- Trek - Segafredo (USA)
ProContinental
- Direct Energy (FRA)
- Team Novo Nordisk (USA)
- United Health Care Pro Cycling Team (USA)
Shelf
- Axeon Hagen's Berman Cycling Team (USA)
- Holowesko | Citadel Racing Team p/b Hincapie Sportswear (USA)
- Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis (USA)
- Rally Cycling (US)
- Team WIGGINS (GBR)