Many of the teams and riders at the Tour of California cycling race are familiar to fans who follow the sport year-round, and to people who only haul lawn chairs out once a year to watch the colored jerseys go by.
Yusse Soto typically rides for the IS Corp team. But for Amgen, she is riding for the green, white and red team from the Mexican Cycling Federation, or Federacion Mexicana de Ciclismo, which is making its debut at Amgen.
Soto says it's a big deal for her country and women's cycling.
“This year I think is better, because I think the national team is very important for my country,” she said. “So, I'm very excited for this race. And this race is super good recognition and it's equal for the men and women. This is good news for the woman in pro cycling."
She says there aren’t a lot of events south of the border. “It’s good we have an invitation for this race, because in Mexico we don’t have a lot of races,” Soto said.
The women's race is three stages this year, while the men’s is seven stages. But the cash prizes for each of the stages is the same in both races.
The women's race hosted its first stage in Elk Grove on Thursday. Stage two will be at Lake Tahoe on Friday, and the final is Saturday at the state Capitol.
Downtown Sacramento Road Closures and Parking Restrictions
There will be road closures and parking restrictions downtown beginning Friday as the Amgen Tour of California bike race hits Sacramento. The following roads will be closed between Friday afternoon and midnight Saturday. Several closures will not be in effect until 4 a.m. Saturday, and some additional adjacent roads may be closed during the race.
- L Street from Ninth to 19th streets
- Capitol Mall from Third to 10th
- N Street from Seventh to 15th
- Q Street from 14th to 19th
- 18th Street from L to Q
- 10th Street from J to P
- 11th Street from N to P (on-street parking restricted)
- 12th Street from N to O (on-street parking restricted)
- 15th Street from J to R
For more details on the race, including a schedule and route maps, visit the Tour of California website.
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