Stage 6: Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita
ROUTE DETAILS
Day: Saturday, Feb 23
Start: Santa Barbara
Finish: Santa Clarita
Start Time: 11:00 AM
Miles: 105.4
End ETA: 2:53-3:33 PM
With the individual time trial the day before reshuffling the general classification, the top riders fighting to maintain or battling for a spot on the final podium might be separated merely by seconds when they start the HealthNet-sponsored stage 6 near the breathtaking Santa Barbara shoreline. Along the peloton’s 105-mile journey to Santa Clarita, the racers will be hit with four leg-breaking King of the Mountains climbs and three sprint lines, which means crucial points will be up for grabs for riders gunning for the climber’s title and the green sprinter’s jersey. After cruising through Carpenteria on Highway 192, the peloton will face two KOMs on Highway 150 before passing Lake Casitas and entering scenic Ojai. The pack will tackle the third KOM just outside Ojai and descend into Santa Paula. Saving the best for last, the menacingly steep Balcom Canyon climb will be the final KOM of the stage. The last two years, waiting on Balcom Canyon was an enormous enthusiastic sea of nearly 25,000 fans that parted to let the riders pass. Finally three demanding circuits in Santa Clarita remain. The sprinters will be deployed on a mad dash for the finish line at McBean Parkway at the Valencia Town Center.
(stage description courtesy of the official Amgen Tour of California website: http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/ )
