The eyes of the bicycle racing world will turn to Sacramento on Saturday for the starting prologue of the Amgen Tour of California. The race features Lance Armstrong’s return to racing in the U.S., 2008 Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre and a line-up of other cycling starts. It was also billed as being the return race of Lancaster County native Floyd Landis after a two-year suspension.
But Floyd had a quiet return to racing last Saturday at the Boulevard Road Race in east San Diego County, where he now lives. Landis finished in the main group in 16th place. His teammate, Cameron Evans, on the new OUCH Team presented by Maxxis took second place in the hilly, 90-mile race.
Racers rode through a driving snowstorm in frigid conditions, which followed two 80-degree days in Southern California, Velonews reported. Only 43 of the 90 starters finished the race.
It was the first race for OUCH, which was created from the remnants of the former Health Net-Maxxis team with the notable addition of Landis. Along with Landis, it was the debut pro race for Kennett Square native Jonathan Chodroff on the OUCH Team.
The Tour of California begins with the Saturday prologue and continues through stage 8 on Sunday, Feb. 22. That last stage includes the ascent of Mount Palomar, the race’s highest point at 5,123 feet. The climb unfolds over 11.7 miles and 21 switchbacks at an average 7 percent grade. Landis regularly does the climb on training rides from his home in the area.
