Santa Rosa seems to be one of the few cities in California to know, for sure, that it's going to be a host city on the 2010 Tour of California bike race.
The city's Chamber of Commerce chief confirmed to the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat that the bike race would return to Santa Rosa for the fifth time in a row.
Meanwhile, organizers are still putting together the list of other host cities for the 8-stage tour. The race better be a doozy, because it's going up against the Giro d'Italia. The Tour announced earlier that it would be held in May instead of February to take advantage of better weather conditions and actually hold a real mountain stage.
Leipheimer home
Local cycling fans wanted the race to return to Santa Rosa; it's the home of three-time Tour of California champion Levi Leipheimer.
Like many US municipalities suffering economically during this recession, however, Santa Rosa couldn't find room in its budget to make a contribution to the $175,000 that must be committed to host a stage.
That spurred the chamber to step up its fund-raising efforts, which included the Levi Leipheimer King Ridge GranFondo bike ride last weekend which drew 3,500 riders. The chamber estimates they still need to raise $85,000, although the total proceeds from the bike ride haven't been calculated yet.
The 5th annual Tour of California is scheduled to start May 16. That's about all anyone knows for sure, although there's some informed speculation over at the Steephill.tv website. Other cities mentioned as certainties include Sacramento, Big Bear Lake, and Venice.
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