Amgen Tour of California | Over the years
The Amgen Tour of California has been the pinnacle of U.S. bike racing for the last decade and has hosted some of the team’s most memorable performances. With the race going on hiatus in 2020, take a look back on some of our favorite moments.
- Alex “Cando” Candelario educating the crowd about World Bicycle Relief in 2011.
- Not many things have changed over the years. Eric Wohlberg, Jonas Carney, Tom McEnery, Sam Wiebe, and Jake Erker are all smiles pre-race.
- Mike Friedman, they don’t call him Meatball for nothing.
- Mike Creed snags a musette. Those green shorts were legendary.
- Team mechanic Eric Jellum in his happy place. Circa 2011.
- Sprinter Ken Hanson finishes second in his adopted hometown of Santa Barbara in 2013.
- Chad Haga needed assitance at the top of Palm Springs’ tramway where temperatures hit 115 degrees in 2013.
- The breakaway finally sticks and Will Routley takes the team’s first-ever stage win in 2014.
- Allison Tetrick warms up for 2015’s individual time trial.
- Canadian road champ Leah Kirchmann wins her second stage of the inaugural edition of the women’s race in 2015.
- Kirchmann finished ahead of Erica Carney (Colavita) who years later would earn her first US Pro crit title with the team before retiring in 2019 to become a teacher.
- Mike “Woodsy” Woods’ famous attack up Mt. Hamilton.
- Tom Zirbel rocking the stars and stripes as national TT champ.
- They don’t call him The Immortal for nothing. Canadian Olympian and current team director, Eric Wohlberg.
- Phil Gaimon always had a thing for cookies and KOMs.
- Time trial day for Jasmin Duehring.
- Fans comes in all shapes and sizes.
- Team captain Danny Pate closes the gap to a breakaway in 2016. Huffman would bridge across to secure the KOM competition.
- The team time trial made an appearance in 2016. To make logistics easier for international teams, it was limited to road handlebars.
- Huffman returns to Santa Clarita a year after finishing second.
- Huffman became the first Continental rider to win a stage of a WorldTour stage race.
- Sepp Kuss bridges across to Britton and Huffman during the 2017 finale.
- Huffman captures win number two.
- Eric Maresjo hoses down Huffman’s “Classic Cruiser” in 2018.
- Emma White sprinted to the podium twice in 2018.
- White won the overall Points classification the same year.
- Rob Britton leading Brandon McNulty into Lake Tahoe in 2018. McNulty would finish fourth on the stage and seventh on GC.
- Kyle Murphy’s mom was waiting for him in Sacramento.
- Doebel-Hickok finished seventh overall in 2019 after strong performances in the mountains.
- From oceanside sprints to summit finishes, the Amgen Tour of California showcased all that California has to offer.
- The baddest car in the race caravan, the Acura RDX.
- Some of the folks behind the scenes.
- California had the largest time trial crowds of the season.
- Ty Magner, Brandon McNulty, and Robin Carpenter entered the Miller Children’s Hospital tricycle race against Jens Voigt ahead of the 2018 start in Long Beach. They swept the podium.
- It wasn’t ATOC without a few costumes along the way.
- The team made it a tradition to visit a local children’s hospital ahead of the race each year. In 2019, Gavin Mannion, Rob Britton, and Evan Huffman met with patients at Sutter Children’s Hospital in Sacramento.
- NBA Hall of Famer Bill Walton rides the route every year. The other riders look up to him.
- Emma White rode “Tiger” for UHCCF grant recipient Tony in 2019.
- As the race grew over the years, so did the technology. Paper race bibles were soon replaced with tablets during pre-race meetings.
- 2019 marked the fourth year of “Inspired Bikes”. In total, the team helped raise over $100,000 for UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation.
- Doebel-Hickok and Bergen recount the final stage in 2019.
- The sun sets on the Amgen Tour of California… for now.