Amgen Tour of California names eight ProTour teams for 2009 race

December 18, 4:33 PMCycling ExaminerJames Raia

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As expected, Astana, Garmin-Silpstream and Team Columbia Highroad were among eight ProTour teams selected to participate in next year’s Amgen Tour of California (ATOC).

Team rosters won’t be announced until February, but two-time defending overall ATOC titlist Levi Leipheimer and seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong have committed to the event as leaders of the Astana squad.

In addition to Leipheimer and Armstrong, next year’s ATOC is expected to include: David Millar (Great Britain), Christian Vande Velde (Lemont, Ill.), and David Zabriskie (Salt Lake City), who respectively finished second, third and sixth overall last year with Slipstream-Chipotle; and former world time trial titlist Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) and Gustav Larsson (Sweden), who respectively finished fourth and fifth overall last year for CSC.

Ag2r-La Mondiale (France), Liquigas (Italy), Quick Step (Belgium), Rabobank (Netherlands) and Team Saxo Bank (Denmark) were also named to the event.

Remaining teams will be announced in January. But BMC, the Santa Rosa-based squad whose top overall rider last year, Switzerland’s Alexandre Moos, finished 10th; OUCH (formerly Health-Net) featuring dethroned 2006 Tour de France titlist Floyd Landis; and Bissell, the Michigan-based squad, are likely entrants.

Landis won the inaugural Tour of California at the beginning of his stellar 2006 season that featured his improbable Tour de France win that was later disallowed via his positive test for improper ratio of testosterone-to-epitestosterone.

As previously announced, next year’s expanded Tour of California will be one day and about 100 miles longer than in 2008, and it will progress from Sacramento to Escondido in San Diego County.

Following the opening prologue (a short individual time trial to determine a race leader) around the State Capitol in Sacramento on Feb. 14, the first stage Feb. 15 will bring riders from Davis to Santa Rosa. It will mark the conclusion of Armstrong’s first North American road race in his comeback season.

Four teams that competed in the Tour of California in 2008 will be missing next year: Saunier Duval-Scott (now Fuji-Servetto) of Spain, Bouygues Telecom (now Bbox Bouygues Telecom) of France, and the defunct Gerolsteiner (Germany) and Credit Agricole (France).

In the constantly changing world of cycling team sponsorship, Team CSC (Switzerland), which has ridden prominently in the Tour of California since its inception, is now Team Saxo Bank. Its title sponsor was signed as a co-sponsor in mid-season last year.

2008 Results

Individuals
1. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Astana, 29:24:32
2. David Millar (GB), Slipstream-Chipotle, 0:49
3. Christian Vande Velde (USA), Slipstream-Chipotle, 1:08
4. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), CSC, 1:18
5. Gustav Larsson (Swe), CSC, 1:19
6. David Zabriskie (USA), Slipstream-Chipotle, 1:36
7. Christopher Horner (USA), Astana, 2:07
8. Jurgen Vandewalle (B), Quickstep, 2:11
9. Robert Gesink* (Nl), Rabobank, 2:18
10. Alexandre Moos (Swi), BMC, 2:27

Teams
1. Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30, 88:17:05
2. Astana, 0:16
3. Team CSC, 8:44
4. Quick Step, 8:47
5. Rabobank, 10:02
6. Gerolsteiner, 19:11
7. Saunier Duval-Scott, 22:59
8. High Road, 23:24
9. Crédit Agricole, 24:28
10. Bissell Pro Cycling, 36:40
11. Rock Racing, 47:56
12. Bouygues Telecom, 1:03:48

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