Big Bear Not Amgen Tour Host City In 2013

Big Bear Lake, CA, November 27, 2012 – Twelve cities have been named official Host City partners for the 2013 Amgen Tour of California, and Big Bear Lake is not one of them. The Amgen Tour of California next year will take riders on a South to North course for the first time in the eight-year history of the race. The race will begin in Escondido and finish in Santa Rosa next May. For the first time in the history of the race, it will visit Murrieta, the Palm Springs area and Avila Beach, and for the eighth consecutive year it will return to San Jose. Other host cities include Palmdale, Santa Clarita, Santa Barbara, Livermore, Mount Diablo, and San Francisco. Rick Bates of the Events office in Big Bear told Big Bear News that the announcement of the tour host cities shows their commitment to professional cycling in Southern California. Big Bear proposed a weekend stage finish and will propose a weekend finish again for the 2014 race. But because the final stage is in San Francisco and Santa Rosa, a weekend stage finish in Big Bear was not possible. Rick Bates also said Big Bear deserves a weekend stage finish and he will not loose site of that goal.