Amgen Tour of California Finish 2016

Sacramento was center stage on May 22, 2016 playing host to its eighth appearance of the famed Amgen Tour of California race, and the State Capitol didn’t disappoint. On a breezy sunny day, fans once again packed the streets surrounding L Street and the Capitol Building as racers and support vehicles roared in from outlying picturesque areas. But this year was different from the previous eight. For the first time, Sacramento — specifically at about 11th and L streets — hosted the eighth and final leg of this year’s eight-day event. The race began in San Diego, wound its way through coastal cities including Santa Barbara, Morro Bay and Monterey, hit Lodi’s wine country before heading up to South Tahoe, made a pit stop in Folsom, completed stage 7 in Santa Rosa, and finished the race amid an excited crowd in Downtown Sacramento. The overall men’s winner was 23-year-old Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe, whose 11th place finish in Sunday’s leg was good enough to keep him ahead to claim the title. Great Britain’s Mark Cavendish, well known to Sacramento fans, won the day’s stage and Dutch cyclist Kirsten Wild won it for the women. The overall womens title went to American Megan Guarnier.