Who says bicycle racing is dead in America without Lance Armstrong?
The crowds that have been flocking to the Amgen Tour of California, and those following the race on the internet have been treated to plenty of excitement. How about today's breakaway that included Jens Voight of Team CSC and Viatcheslav Ekimov of Discovery Channel.
There was the suspense of whether they would be caught (they were), followed by the action of Discovery driving a freight train down the main drag of sunny Santa Barbara to deliver George Hincapie to his second Tour stage victory.
Floyd Landis, the race leader, retained his golden jersey as Phonak pulled back all challengers.
Before this stirring finish, the Amgen Tour of California organizers estimated more than 680,000 people had watched the bicycle race by the time the peloton rolled into San Luis Obispo on Thursday.
Many of those spectators have taken part in the pre-race festivities in towns along the route, eating in restaurants, staying in hotels, buying souvenirs, whatever. Many others watch from the roadside.
The Examiner reports that while the impact of visitors has been noticeable on San Francisco, it's been huge on the smaller town along the 600-mile route. The Tour of California organizers expect 1 million people will see the race by the Redondo Beach finale on Sunday.
The AEG company, which owns the race, has promised to inject $5 million into the venture over the next five years to make sure it catches hold. The efforts so far seem to be paying off.
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