2019 Tour of California Preview

2019 Tour of California Preview
The Amgen Tour of California kicks off its fourteenth edition on May 12th. In just 13 years it has gone from a small February race to a WorldTour event. Here’s a look at the route, the contenders and how you can catch the action.

The Tour of California conflicts directly with the Giro d’Italia starting this weekend, despite the conflict both races seem to be growing in significance. This year’s race features the first-ever USA Cycling national team racing alongside 13 WorldTour teams and five Pro Continental programs. The seven-day race starts Sunday in Sacramento and concludes May 18 in Pasadena.

The Route

The 2019 Tour of California route is quite possibly the hardest edition yet. Riders face 20,725 metres of climbing over seven stages and 1,251 kilometres of racing. Sadly there is no time trial for 2019, and the route offers just one sprint stages.

Tour of California Stage 1

Tour of California Stage 2

Tour of California Stage 3

Tour of California Stage 4

Tour of California Stage 5

Tour of California Stage 6

Tour of California Stage 7

The Contenders

It’s a bit of a tradition at the Tour of California that the defending champion doesn’t return. Team Sky’s Egan Bernal took that tradition very seriously, he’s not racing at all. He was set to take on the Giro d’Italia this year, but broke his collarbone instead.

Three former winners from years previous will be there though, 2017 winner George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma), 2015 winner Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and 2013 winner Tejay van Garderen with his new team EF Education First, will all be on the line Sunday.

Richie Porte is making his Tour of California debut with Trek-Segafredo. His former BMC teammate Rohan Dennis, second twice in California, will return this year with Bahrain-Merida.

The sprint field at the Tour of California is looking a lot less certain. Sagan, who has a record 16 stage wins at the Tour of California only has one win so far this season. Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) is still rebounding from illness and has shown zero signs that his form is returning. Marcel Kittel, who won a stage in California in 2017, withdrew from the race and terminated his contract with Katusha-Alpecin.

That leaves the door open for surprise stage winners. Jasper Philipsen (UAE Team Emirates) and Deceuninck-QuickStep’s Fabio Jakobsen are guys to watch. USA Cycling’s Travis McCabe could surprise us as well.

Tour of California Live Video Streaming and TV Coverage

May 9 update:  A work in progress for  2019 Amgen Tour of California  live and delayed coverage. Most live feeds will be country restricted, but  unrestricted links will appear in bold. Check back at race time for more links. Feel free to send in additional sources for live video, tv coverage or text updates/tickers as they become known. –  Steve

Stage 1 start time:  Sunday 14:15 PDT (3:15:00 PM MDT);  Weather for Sacramento, U.S.
Earliest live video:  15:00 PDT (4:00:00 PM MDT);  Stage 1 Preview
Approximate finish:  17:40 PDT (6:40:00 PM MDT);  Weather for Sacramento, U.S.

 

media source tv or internet comments/restrictions
Amgen Tour Tracker live video  (english) North America; Live video with a ticker, and gps tracking. Earliest live coverage.
Fubo TV live video  (english) English; United States and Canada. Watch Live or DVR the Tour of California, Giro d’Italia + other races.  Free 7 day trial.
NBC Sports live video  (english)
tv schedule
North America; live video at 3:30 PM PT
Eurosport live video?  (english, UK only)

tv schedule  (british)
tv schedule  (int’l/cet)

Europe; English.  Amazon Prime UK subscribers can  sign-up to a seven-day free trial for the Eurosport Player  through Amazon Channels. After the seven-day trial, Eurosport is £4.99 per month. Amazon Prime is £7.99 per month after a  30-day free Amazon Prime UK trial
SBS Cycling Central live video  (english)
tv schedule
Australia only; live video at 5:30am AEST
Super Sport live video  (english)
tv schedule
Territories across Africa inc. South Africa; English. Must be a resident of the area and DStv customer
RDS live video  (french)
tv schedule
Quebec/Canada via Quebec’s Reseau des Sports; RDS (French) live daily coverage of ATOC. Broadcasts begin at 17:00-19:00 (eastern time) with Sebastien Boucher, François Parisien and Dominique Perras
CylingNews live text updates text updates for every stage