Amador County – The Tour of California bicycle race will make a ride through Amador County this year, with a speed trial leg of the race stopping next week in Ione.

Funk said as the AMGEN tour, a professional bicycle race was preparing for race legs all over California, ACT was working with Ione Business and Community Association and the city of Ione administration “to organize a small festival of our various recreational opportunities.”

Maureen Funk, of the Amador Council of Tourism said she will be in Sacramento Monday at the Lifestyle Festival for AMGEN and she expected to tell all of their booth visitors about the time trial conclusion in Ione the next day.

The racers are expected to be coming into Ione between noon and 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 17th, said Funk, who said the festival in Ione will have booths to help people enjoy the excitement of the Amgen Cycling Road Race, the largest cycling event in the United States.

The Tour de-France style road race has been challenging the world’s top cycling teams in eight stages, the last several years, with participants including many recent Tour-de-France winners, including 7-time champion Lance Armstrong, who will be one of 19 teams in this year’s race. Armstrong is racing with Team Radioshack.

Ione will be part of Stage 3, the Auburn to Modesto leg, which is a 121.9-mile stage, which begins at 10:15 a.m. in Auburn and will conclude in Modesto at 3:30 p.m. Cyclists are estimated to come through Ione between noon and 12:30 from Michigan Bar Road to Highway 104, through downtown Ione, and the out of town on Highway 104.

Sharon Long of Ione said: “This leg of the race will be a sprint. There will be no parking in downtown until the cyclists have gone through Ione,” and “side streets around Main Street will be blocked off.”

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.