Project Sport, LLC – producers of the San Francisco and San Rafael Twilight Criterium cycling races – announced today an agreement with the Sacramento Sports Commission and the Amgen Tour of California to present a professional criterium-style cycling race in conjunction with Stage 1 of the 2010 Tour, to be contested on the morning of May 16, 2010, just prior to the Tour’s opening stage arrival in Sacramento. The Sacramento Grand Prix at the 2010 Amgen Tour of California will begin at 10 a.m. and travel a 1.4 mile course circling the Capitol Building, duplicating portions of the Tour’s circuit just hours before Stage 1 is slated to finish in downtown Sacramento. It will include men’s and

"For us domestic riders, this is our Tour de France," Chris Jones said of the Amgen Tour of California. "It's the biggest race of our year," added the 31-year-old cyclist from Auburn. Jones and Michael Sayers, a retired professional rider, are Amgen tour veterans. They joined John McCasey, Sacramento Sports Commission director, at a Tuesday press conference at Mason's Restaurant. They introduced the tour's first stage -- from Nevada City to Sacramento -- with Mayor Kevin Johnson and Councilmen Ray Tretheway and Steve Cohn also in attendance. The event kicked off with a video that provided a glimpse of the scenery cyclists will see when they ride from Nevada City to Sacramento on May 16.