Tour of California bike course announced

Cyclists in the annual Amgen Tour of California will have to pedal over some of the region’s most iconic passes to win the race.

The women’s stage 2 starts and ends at Heavenly Mountain Resort. They will repeat the Luther Pass, Carson Valley, Kingsbury Grade route. This is basically what they did last year. The course in the valley will be different.

In three stages the women will cover 187 miles from May 17-19.

The men will arrive in South Lake Tahoe from Folsom via Carson and Luther passes. This is a similar route that they took in 2016. In all they will climb 16,000 feet in this 123-mile stage 6.

The seven-stage men’s event is May 13-19, from Long Beach to Sacramento.

Both Tahoe events will be May 18.