Jul 24, 2008

Bike tour coasts by Palo Alto

Race releases '09 schedule, city absent

By Kristina Peterson / Daily News Staff Writer

Palo Alto will not host any segment of the next Amgen Tour of California, race organizers announced Wednesday.

The city had lobbied earlier this year to host the finish of one of the major cycling race's stages, but Palo Alto was not included in the 16-city course route released by race promoter AEG.

"We wanted to participate again because it was such a great experience last year hosting the prologue," City Manager Frank Benest said.

Last year, Palo Alto kicked off the eight-day race with an opening prologue that timed racers as they sped through downtown Palo Alto and nearby Stanford University.

AEG spokesman Michael Roth said the decision to bypass Palo Alto came down to logistics. The Feb. 14-22 race will not include a prologue this year and will start farther north, in Sacramento, he said. However, the race will return to San Jose, which is to host the start of the fourth stage on Feb. 17.

"Starting in Sacramento and finishing in San Diego, with other elements of the race, we just were not able to visit Palo Alto and Stanford this year," Roth said.

He said the race's course has been changed in each of its four years to provide new cycling challenges for the racers, expose the tour to more of the state and provide additional scenery for international television broadcasts. The coming race will include the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time, he said.

"We try to keep it fresh and keep it new," he said.

Roth stressed that the decision to skip Palo Alto had nothing to do with last year's prologue.

"We had a tremendous experience in Palo Alto," he said. "The fan support was terrific."

Council Member Yoriko Kishimoto, who helped bring the 2008 race to Palo Alto in February, said she was disappointed the city will not be involved in the next race.

"It's disappointment mixed with some level of relief, since it is a lot of work to host it," she said.

Last year, Palo Alto partnered with Stanford to host the Feb. 17 prologue, an event that cost about $167,000. After factoring in roughly $76,000 raised by a local organizing committee, Palo Alto, Stanford and AEG split the rest of the tab.

Benest said the city's portion was more than covered by the taxes generated from visitors staying in local hotels in the week leading up to the race.

"Financially it was very favorable to us," Benest said, though the cost details were not released until months after the event.

Benest said he was confident Palo Alto will host other high-profile sporting events, including the 2009 Senior Games.



E-mail Kristina Peterson at kpeterson@dailynewsgroup.com.