Some of the world’s top bicyclists will be racing into Sacramento Monday to finish the second stage of the sixth annual Amgen Tour of California at the Capitol.

Racers will enter Sacramento from the northern city limits on Sorrento Road to Main Avenue, then head to Highway 160, where they will then enter the central city on 12th Street, according to Department of Transportation spokeswoman Linda Tucker. For the race route and road closures, click the interactive map below.

View Amgen Tour of California Route in a larger map

“You’ve got the opportunity to watch some of the best athletes in the world ply their trade,” said Andrew Messick, president of AEG Sports, which owns the race. “It’s free, and that’s one of the great things about cycling.”

The race is one of the largest in the world, Messick said, adding that it joins the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia in notoriety.

Racers are in 19 teams of between 13 and 30 riders each, and Messick said they are typically the same teams that will race in the Tour de France, which takes place in July.

The overall champion is the rider who completes the approximately 800-mile course from Lake Tahoe to Southern California in the least overall time, and there are also winners of each of the eight individual stages.

“It’s a great opportunity to see the incredible diversity of terrain you have in the state of California,” Messick said. “It never fails to amaze me.” 

Messick said he the race will traverse mountainous terrain as well as flat land and urban areas.

Map of Stage 2 Route (Image by: Courtest Amgen Tour of California)

Riders will be entering the circuits around the Capitol around 3:15 or 3:30 p.m., Messick said, and once the stage is completed at the Capitol, there will be an after party.

The event consistently draws more people each year, Messick said.

“Cycling clearly is continuing to grow every year,” he added. “More people participate, people buy more bikes, and we think it’s fantastic because cycling is an extraordinary activity and a great mode of transportation.”

Local riders can get a chance to ride with riders of the Liquigas-Cannondale team by showing up at 10 a.m. at Mike’s Bikes, 1411 I St., according to Manager Brian Durling.

“It’s the (squad) that’s not racing that day,” he said. “Everyone can come. It’s a mellow-pace ride that’s going to leave at 11 (a.m.) and ride up the bike trail for 15-20 miles and be back here in Sacramento to watch the finish.”

Durling said the tour being in town always generates buzz and excitement about cycling.

“Since it started coming here, we see more and more people excited about it every year,” he said. “It’s definitely good for business.”

Durling said it’s hard to quantify how good it is for business, with May being Bike Month and the weather improving, when people typically tend to buy bicycles anyway.

“I’m excited they have some Northern California mountain stages where they’re actually in the mountains instead of rolling down the foothills or the SoCal coastal mountains,” he said.

When it comes to Sacramento, Durling said it is interesting to see them riding through the streets in person, as opposed to watching other cycle races on TV. “We see them riding on the roads we ride on,” he said.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.