Starting Sunday, the best talents on small American teams will go face to face with the many great riders not taking part in the Giro d’Italia in the Golden State.

The course:

This year’s route will be a lot flatter than in most editions, which will make for more aggressive riding throughout the race to what should be a great Queen Stage the 7th day.

Stage 1 has the peloton on a pancake flat loop starting and ending in Sacramento, finishing on the same circuits as last year. Like last year, the rider victorious in the capital city will most likely be a sprinter.

Starting in Nevada City, stage 2 will be somewhat hilly until the halfway point, where there will be a steady slight downhill to the finishing circuits in Lodi. A sprint is likely, but don’t count out the breakaway.

The first GC test, stage 3 features 6 categorized climbs, the last 3 being Mt Hamilton with 30 miles to go (HC), Quimby with 18 miles to go (2), and a small climb up to County Motorcycle Park for the finish (4) in the outskirts of San Jose. This day should go to the climbers.

After the first 3 stages being in the north half of the state, the riders will go south for another flat stage starting and finishing at the coastline. Stage 4 will almost surely finish as a sprint, but a cat 3 climb halfway through might be enough to knock off some of the top contenders. Keep in mind the last time a stage finished at Avila Beach, a breakaway in the form of Jens Voigt finished 6 seconds ahead of the group with similar parcours

Stage 5 has a lot of up and downs, but probably not enough to affect the GC. Every time the organizers have used this route, the finish has ended up in a sprint. Depending how the day goes, the stage could easily end in a reduced group.

The 6th day of the race will have riders go against the clock with a time trail. The route is fast and flat, and at 15 miles, there won’t be any big gaps forming in the overall standings.

Day 7 will be where the race is won. Starting with 2 long climbs on Glendora Ridge, the peloton will climb for 15 miles up Mt Baldy for a summit finish. The overall winner is almost guaranteed to be either 1st place on this stage or finish with the same time as 1st place on this stage, as shown in 2011 and 2012 with Chris Horner and Robert Gesink, respectively.

The 8th and final stage starts with 5 circuits through downtown Los Angeles, after which the peloton will ride to Pasadena and finish with 8 5k laps around the Rose Bowl and neighboring Brookside Golf Club, surely finishing in a group sprint.

The contenders:

GC:

With defending champion Bradley Wiggins’ departure from the team, Sky will be bring both Sergio Henao (7th at Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege) and Peter Kennaugh (6th at Ruta Del Sol, winner of Tour of Austria in ’14) to try to take home the yellow jersey.

will be bring both Sergio Henao (7th at Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege) and Peter Kennaugh (6th at Ruta Del Sol, winner of Tour of Austria in ’14) to try to take home the yellow jersey. Being the only attending rider to win the race before (in ’12), Robert Gesink will attempt to get win number 2 after a solid result in the Tour de Romandie (15th). LottoNL-Jumbo will also send multiple top-10 finisher Laurens ten Dam in support of Gesink.

will also send multiple top-10 finisher Laurens ten Dam in support of Gesink. Cannondale-Garmin , the most prominently American team in the World Tour peloton, will try to break the Garmin tradition of not being able to get to the top step of the Californian podium, having gotten 5 2nd places and 3 3rd places in the 9 year event. Leading the team will be Andrew Talansky, who, despite a subpar year so far, has proven he can do well in stage races (winner of Criterium de Dauphine in ’14). Joe Dombrowski, who set the record time going up Mt Baldy on Strava in the 2012 edition, also has the ability to put in a good overall result.

, the most prominently American team in the World Tour peloton, will try to break the Garmin tradition of not being able to get to the top step of the Californian podium, having gotten 5 2nd places and 3 3rd places in the 9 year event. Leading the team will be Andrew Talansky, who, despite a subpar year so far, has proven he can do well in stage races (winner of Criterium de Dauphine in ’14). Joe Dombrowski, who set the record time going up Mt Baldy on Strava in the 2012 edition, also has the ability to put in a good overall result. Getting 3rd last year, Giant-Alpecin ‘s Lawson Craddock will be joined by Warren Barguil to have a formidable 1-2 punch with either rider having a chance to make the podium.

‘s Lawson Craddock will be joined by Warren Barguil to have a formidable 1-2 punch with either rider having a chance to make the podium. Matthew Busche (3-time top-15, getting as high as 6th in ’13) will be able to work off of Trek Factory Racing teammates Riccardo Zoidl and Haimar Zubeldia (12th last year, 5 top-10 finishes at Tour de France) to be successful in his home country.

teammates Riccardo Zoidl and Haimar Zubeldia (12th last year, 5 top-10 finishes at Tour de France) to be successful in his home country. Based off his wins at De Brabantse Pijl and a Yorkshire stage, Ben Hermans has proven that he can make up time taking flyers towards the end of races, which will be valuable with only a couple of uphill finishes. Riding in support for BMC is Joey Rosskopf, who broke out in the last high-end U.S. race at the USA Pro Challenge in ’14, getting 6th.

is Joey Rosskopf, who broke out in the last high-end U.S. race at the USA Pro Challenge in ’14, getting 6th. Notable names from Pro Continental and Continental teams include: MTN-Qhubeka‘s Jacques Janse van Rensburg; Drapac‘s Lachlan Norris (10th at Tour of Utah in ’14); UnitedHealthcare‘s Janez Brajkovic (5th in Tour of the Gila, 9th in Tour de France in ’12); Optum‘s Phillip Gaimon (2nd in Tour de San Luis in ’14) and Michael Woods (4th in Tour of the Gila); Jelly Belly‘s Lachlan Morton (5th in USA Pro Challenge in ’13) and Gavin Mannion (3rd in Tour of the Gila); Axeon‘s Tao Geoghegan Hart (8th in Tour of the Gila); SmartStop‘s Rob Britton (winner of Tour of the Gila).

Sprint:

Tinkoff-Saxo ‘s Peter Sagan has as many wins in the Tour of California as 2nd and 3rd place combined (11 over the last 5 years, winning the points competition every year). In between hilly stages that could see pure sprinters off the pace and a leadout featuring Matti Breschel, there’s a great chance he’ll be able to add to that total.

‘s Peter Sagan has as many wins in the Tour of California as 2nd and 3rd place combined (11 over the last 5 years, winning the points competition every year). In between hilly stages that could see pure sprinters off the pace and a leadout featuring Matti Breschel, there’s a great chance he’ll be able to add to that total. Mark Cavendish, in addition to having 43 Grand Tour stage wins, has 5 in the Golden State, including 2 last year. He’s shown form with already 9 wins this season and super-leadout man Mark Renshaw will work to get him into the double digits. If Cav can’t keep up on climbs, then recent phenom Julian Alaphilippe (2nd at both Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege) will be able to compete in a reduced sprint for Etixx-Quick Step .

. Trek Factory Racing will have multiple choices to work for in sprints. Likely, they’ll choose Danny van Poppel (3 top-5 finishes last year) on the really flat stages and Jasper Stuyven on the hillier ones.

will have multiple choices to work for in sprints. Likely, they’ll choose Danny van Poppel (3 top-5 finishes last year) on the really flat stages and Jasper Stuyven on the hillier ones. Daniel Oss (8th at Gent-Wevelgem) will be trying to get BMC a stage win on days that come to a group sprint. If he has any off days, the team will likely turn to Jempy Drucker.

a stage win on days that come to a group sprint. If he has any off days, the team will likely turn to Jempy Drucker. After Marcel Kittel’s depature due to illness, Giant-Alpecin ‘s leadout train will end with Koen de Kort.

‘s leadout train will end with Koen de Kort. Cannondale-Garmin ‘s Alex Howes showed that he can win in small groups in the final stage of the USA Pro Challenge last year, and will gladly attempt to do so again here.

‘s Alex Howes showed that he can win in small groups in the final stage of the USA Pro Challenge last year, and will gladly attempt to do so again here. Sky ‘s sprinting team will probably feature Nathan Earle leading out for Andrew Fenn.

‘s sprinting team will probably feature Nathan Earle leading out for Andrew Fenn. Tom Van Asbroeck will be LottoNL-Jumbo ‘s fast man for this week.

‘s fast man for this week. Notable names from Pro Continental and Continental teams include: MTN-Qhubeka‘s Tyler Farrar (6 Grand Tour stage wins), Matthew Goss (Milano-Sanremo winner in ’11), and Gerald Ciolek (Milano-Sanremo winner in ’13); Drapac‘s Wouter Wippert (stage win in Tour Down Under); UnitedHealthcare‘s Marco Canola (Giro d’Italia stage win in ’14) and Kiel Reijnen (USA Pro Challenge stage win in ’14); Optum‘s Ryan Anderson; Jelly Belly‘s Fred Rodriguez and Jacob Rathe; Jamis-Hagens Berman‘s Lucas Sebastian Haedo; SmartStop‘s Jure Kocjan.



My Top Ten:

Andrew Talansky – GarminDale Lawson Craddock – Giant-Alpecin Sergio Henao – Sky Robert Gesink – LottoNL-Jumbo Riccardo Zoidl – Trek Joe Dombrowski – GarminDale Peter Kennaugh – Sky Gavin Mannion – Jelly Belly Janez Brajkovic – UHC Ben Hermans – BMC

My Stage Wins:

Mark Cavendish – EQS Peter Sagan – Tinkoff Ben Hermans – BMC Peter Sagan – TInkoff Robin Carpenter – Hincapie Tom Zirbel – Optum Sergio Henao – Sky Wouter Wippert – Drapac

Steve Fisher pre-race interview