{"id":127,"date":"2017-10-27T01:10:57","date_gmt":"2017-10-27T01:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/sports\/amgen-tour-of-california-to-kick-off-in-long-beach\/"},"modified":"2017-10-27T01:10:57","modified_gmt":"2017-10-27T01:10:57","slug":"amgen-tour-of-california-to-kick-off-in-long-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/amgen-tour-of-california-to-kick-off-in-long-beach","title":{"rendered":"Amgen Tour of California to Kick Off in Long Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Introducing the 2018 Host Cities | Amgen Tour of California\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KxfHJyTpjkY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This spring, some of the world\u2019s best male cyclists will land in Long Beach to start the first stage of the Amgen Tour of California on Sunday, May 13, 2018, tour owner and presenter AEG announced today.<\/p>\n<p>Considered America\u2019s premier cycling stage race, the seven-day sporting event is a part of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) World Tour calendar, among other major international stops including the Tour de France. 2018 will mark the 13th edition and include over 600 miles of highways, roadways and coastlines from Long Beach to Sacramento May 13 through May 19. Ten other California cities will host through the finish.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Welcome the 2017 Overall Start! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LongBeachCity?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LongBeachCity<\/a> mixes metropolis with a California beach environment like none other: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iJQqWL4YJr\">https:\/\/t.co\/iJQqWL4YJr<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/kOntcTLRT6\">pic.twitter.com\/kOntcTLRT6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 AmgenTOC (@AmgenTOC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AmgenTOC\/status\/923610229228687361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 26, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script charset=\"utf-8\" type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>This will be the first time the tour has started in Long Beach (the city served as the 2007 tour\u2019s finish) and only the third time the riders have raced from South to North. Long Beach will set the stage for many tour fans to interact with their favorite teams prior to the start, while many will follow the tour through the various stages all the way to the finish.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a City that is committed to bikeability and healthy active living, we couldn\u2019t be more proud to host the Amgen Tour of California,\u201d Mayor Robert Garcia said in a statement. \u201cWe look forward to welcoming these extraordinary athletes, and we promise stunning views as Long Beach is the only host that boasts a booming downtown on a waterfront.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Coinciding with the tour will be the Amgen Tour of California Women\u2019s Race empowered with SRAM. All three stages will take place in Northern California May 17-19 and will run concurrently with the men\u2019s stages. This is the 11th consecutive year the event has featured an international platform for both men\u2019s and women\u2019s racing, according to the release.<\/p>\n<p>Last May, George Bennett of New Zealand rode to a tour victory at the finish in Pasadena, and Olympic gold medal winner Anna van der Breggen of the Netherlands won the women\u2019s four-stage tour.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-56456\" src=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/73370051CP010_AMGEN_Tour_of.JPG\" alt=\"73370051CP010 AMGEN Tour of\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Photos courtesy of the Amgen Tour of California.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>For the full route and more information on the host cities, visit the webpage <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amgentourofcalifornia.com\/host-cities-map\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe 2018 Amgen Tour of California will captivate fans everywhere with all-star pelotons and new routes that showcase the incredible beauty of the Golden State,\u201d Kristin Klein, president of the Amgen Tour of California and executive vice president of AEG Sports, said in a statement. \u201cWith a mix of Host Cities that highlight the diversity of California\u2014from urban to remote, ocean to desert, forests to mountains\u2014the race continues its tradition as a dynamic and anticipated event on the international calendar.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A race partner since its inception, title sponsor Amgen launched Breakaway from Cancer in 2005, a national initiative to raise awareness of the resources available to people affected by cancer. Learn more <a href=\"http:\/\/www.breakawayfromcancer.com\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-56457\" src=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/AMGENTOCWOMEN_17_Stage_3_AEG_GettyImages_1200x765.jpg\" alt=\"AMGENTOCWOMEN 17 Stage 3 AEG GettyImages 1200x765\" width=\"620\" height=\"395\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt Amgen, our mission is to serve patients, and for more than 35 years we have reached millions of people with our medicines,\u201d Laura Hamill, senior vice president of U.S Business Operations, Amgen said in a statement. \u201cOur sponsorship of the Amgen Tour of California gives us a platform to discuss, educate and empower people to have hope and believe in drug innovation to live a longer, healthier life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For more information on the Amgen Tour of California visit the website <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amgentourofcalifornia.com\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This spring, some of the world\u2019s best male cyclists will land in Long Beach to start the first stage of the Amgen Tour of California on Sunday, May 13, 2018, tour owner and presenter AEG announced today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":16474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[50],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-cycling","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=127"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}