Jul 23, 2008

BREAKING NEWS: 'Tour' bypassing Palo Alto

Cycling race to skip prologue

By Kristina Peterson / Daily News Staff Writer

Palo Alto will not host any segment of this winter's Amgen Tour of California, race organizers announced today.

The city had lobbied this spring 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 today 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 the city kicked off the eight-day stage race with an opening prologue that timed racers as they sped through downtown Palo Alto and 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 at all 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 Tuesday, 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. This year's 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 the decision to skip Palo Alto was not a reflection on last year's prologue.

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

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

"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 University to host the Feb. 17 prologue, an event that cost around $167,000. After factoring in about $76,000 raised by a local organizing committee, the remaining cost was split three ways between Palo Alto, Stanford and AEG.

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.

This year Stanford agreed to let Palo Alto go after hosting a stage on its own. Last year, spectators lingered on the Stanford campus where the race finished, city staff said this spring.

Benest said he is confident the city would host other high-profile sporting events, including the 2009 Senior Games, which will be held locally next summer.


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