Tragedy strikes the 2011 Amgen Tour of California - Cycling News
For the first time in the six-year history of the Amgen Tour of California, over-night weather conditions created quite a solid hindrance in the way to America’s biggest stage cycling event, scheduled to commence on Sunday, May 15,
2011.
The 2011 edition of the Amgen Tour of California was to be competed on a 118.7 mile track from South Lake Tahoe to North-star, but the weather forced the organisers to cut short the stages.
The race could not commence as scheduled and the Tour was ironically reduced to seven stages, despite of the eight as per tradition.
Six of the officials of the race crashed at the finish-line in Truckee just before the race, indicating obvious implications. The stage was dedicated to Wouter Weylandt of Belgium, who died of a crash last Monday, riding at the Giro
d’Italia for the Leopard Trek team. President of the AEG Sports, Mr. Andrew Messick, kept keen considerations on the safety of the race with the governing circumstances.
Initially, the race was delayed by two hours and 45 minutes and the track was shortened to a mere 49.2 miles. A grid of 144 riders was set to start for the stage under light snowfall. The weather conditions were marginally allowable
with 35 degrees temperature and a breeze with a speed of 12 mph.
Looking at the circumstances, specifically at the finish-line, the Sunday’s stage was finally wiped out at 1:15pm local time, with less than a minute to call it a start.
Messick said, “We were monitoring weather conditions up until the predicted 1:15 p.m. start time, and we just couldn't safely put the riders out on the course with the current forecast.”
This was the first time that the highly motivated crowd at the South Lake Tahoe was disappointed for the re-scheduling of the event. The three-time Tour of California winner, Levi Leipheimer addressed the saddened crowd to awaken their
zeal.
Leipheimer said, “The riders discussed it as a group, and we just don't feel comfortable riding knowing what can happen, especially in light of what happened last Monday. We still have a full week of racing ahead of us, so we want to
make sure everyone is healthy. With the weather conditions the way they are, racing today is just not possible.”
The second stage of the 2011 Amgen Tour of California is set to commence on Monday, May 16, 2011. The race will start from Squaw Valley with a riding track of 133 miles to conclude at Sacramento. The track includes a stretch over Donner
Pass, which is highly speculated to be altered with the closing of Donner Pass due to the late-spring snow storm.
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