Tour of California 2018 Route stage 1: Criterium Long Beach

Sunday, 13 May 2018 - The Tour of California kicks off with a criterium in Long Beach. The route runs mostly along the Pacific Ocean and is entirely flat. The race totals 134.5 kilometres.

The 2018 Tour of California begins 37 kilometres south of Los Angeles in Long Beach. The city hosted the race once before. In 2007 Cuban Iván Domínguez sprinted to victory in the last stage of an edition that was won by Levi Leipheimer. In 2018, the Long Beach criterium is held on a similar flat circuit.

The riders start and finish on the waterfront. The route hugs the sandy shores for a few kilometres before a triangular U-turn takes them back in the reverse direction. A right turn starts a brief detour into Long Beach’s interior. A tight left-hand turn onto E 4th Street and again on Cherry Ave and the riders are back on Ocean Boulevard.

A 90 degree left-hander in the last kilometre leads onto the final straight for a likely fast finishers showdown.

The route consists of twelve rounds. Each lap is 11.5 kilometres long, but as the race begins with a neutral zone of 3.5 kilometres the Tour of California’s 1st stage amounts to 134.5 kilometres.

The first three riders on the line take time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while two intermediate sprints (at kilometre 43 and at kilometre 89) come with 3, 2 and 1 seconds.

The 1st stage of the 2018 Tour of California starts at 12:40 and the finish is expected around 15:45 – both local times.