Course Overview:
Close your eyes and imagine that you are sitting in your team car. It is May 18th and you have just completed Stage 6 of the 2012 Amgen Tour of California. It was a leg breaking 115 miles and 12,000’ of climbing to Big Bear Lake. You are now over 700 miles in the past six days of the most difficult Amgen Tour of California ever. Your legs and your entire body are screaming for some relief. A flat stage is just the ticket to help you recover, but that is not happening. As hard as you try, you can’t push the memories of last year’s Stage 7 out of your head. The climbing, right from the start was relentless. Riders were attacking on every climb. There was no respite in the descents. No time to relax. These were “white knuckle” downhills...tight, steep, and technical. Finally you reached a few miles of straight and flat road on Sierra Madre Blvd. The relief was short lived. The left turn onto Glendora Mountain Road was just ahead. Waiting for you was a 25 mile climb to the finish! That was 2011. For 2012, we have added a few more miles, and of course, a few more hundred feet of climbing!
If Stage 6 climb to Big Bear Lake created some separation between the contenders and the chasers, Stage 7 will be the ultimate test of the rider’s resolve to capture the yellow jersey. Did they leave it all on the roads to Big Bear or did they hold back enough to survive one of the most difficult stages in the history of bicycle racing in the USA? It’s been called the Queen’s Stage and it is a return to the first true mountain top finish in the Amgen Tour of California’s history. It has been compared to the epic stages of the European Grand Tours. This is the training ground for many of the local racers in southern California, but only a handful have done the entire route and none have done it after six days of racing over 700 miles! There is no question that the winner of the 2012 Amgen Tour of California will be decided on the final 15 switchbacks to the finish on Mt Baldy. The 2012 L’Etape du California returns to the fabled Stage 7 route on April 28th.
The course begins in the thriving city of Ontario. Situated just 35 miles east of Los Angeles, Ontario is the center of commerce in southern California. Just a few miles from the start, you will start a 13-mile climb to the Village of Baldy. After an acute left turn, you are facing another mile of climbing up Glendora Ridge Road to the first of three monster KOMs. From here have 12 miles of narrow and twisting roads that gradually descend to a fast and technical descent down the backside of Glendora Mountain Rd. The vistas are spectacular throughout the Angeles National Forest. Another technical descent down East Fork Rd will take you to Hwy 39 and the town of Azusa. Heading east, the route rolls through the City of Glendora. At this point, the remaining number of flat miles for Stage 7 has dwindled to less than two and there are still 27 miles to the finish!
A left turn onto Glendora Mountain Road and it is “Game On”. The next KOM is a nine mile climb. That is followed by 12 miles of a slight climb back to Baldy Village. A left turn back onto Baldy Road will see the race gain 1,000’ in just three miles…and the real climbing has not even started! At Ice House Canyon, the route makes a hard left turn and the sign to the ski area points towards the sky. Over the next 2.5 miles, you will face 10 switchbacks on a road that is so steep that many of the race vehicles cannot make it to the top. At 1.2 miles to go, the road straightens out. The finish line can be seen ahead. At .25 miles to go, the route makes a hard left and you face the final five switchbacks to the finish line. This will be the stage where legends are made and winners are decided. This is the 2012 L’Etape du California. The 2011 event changed many people’s lives. They pushed themselves beyond what they thought was possible. it taught many that nothing is out of their reach. Join us on April 28th.
Chip Timing – KOM/QOM Competition:
TBD - 2012
Photo Courtesy of Brian Hodes - Velo Images
