Come Valentine's Day, Sacramento will be home to America's largest cycling event, the Amgen Tour of California. Lance Armstrong, the seven-time winner of the Tour de France, will be participating as a member of the Astana Cycling Team. Sixteen other teams from around the world will also be competing.

The Tour of California is a Tour de France-style road race. The Sacramento stage of the race will take place on the Capitol Mall and begin at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14, with an estimated end time of 4:00 p.m. Since the 2009 race begins in Sacramento, this stage is called the 'prologue' and will consist of riders completing the course one at a time, racing against each other's time. "Thousands of spectators are expected" to attend, said Julio Villa, a Tour course marshall and part-time bike mechanic.

Two days before the race, Thursday, Feb. 12, the Memorial Auditorium will host a black-tie optional Team Presentation and Gala, providing an opportunity for enthusiasts and supporters to meet with the world-class cyclists participating in the tour.

"Not only will this event bring a substantial economic boost to this community, it allows us to foster community pride by showcasing Sacramento on a world stage and bringing some of the world’s best athletes to our city,” said Steve Hammond, president and CEO of the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau, in a press release on the Tour website.

Tickets start at $300 and can be bought by calling 808-8984.

The first Tour of California was held in 1971 and was organized by Peter Rich, a Berkeley bicycle shop owner. Due to a lack of funds, it was not followed by another until 2006, but since then it has been an annual occurrence, drawing the attention and money of the international cycling community to California. 2009 is the first year the Tour will be covered by Eurosport, a European satellite and cable TV company.

The Tour is being sponsored by Amgen, a biotechnology company focused on disease research and treatment. In 2005 it founded Breakaway from Cancer as a complement to its sponsorship of the Tour. Amgen is also partnered with the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Armstrong has said that he chose to race in the Amgen Tour of California because of "the race's record of supporting cancer awareness and research." Armstrong is a survivor of testicular cancer.

Who in our readership is planning to attend? Does anyone have stories from previous Tours?