Amgen Inc. has announced host cities for its 2014 Tour of California. The cycling race will begin in Sacramento on May 11, but will pass through a couple Valley communities. Stages 6 and 7, which start May 16 and May 17 respectively, will start in Santa Clarita; and the race will end May 18 in Thousand Oaks. The Tour of California, which spans eight days, is owned and run by Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), a Los Angeles unit of Anschutz Corp. of Denver. AEG owns the Staples Center, the L.A. Galaxy soccer team and has a stake in the L.A. Kings hockey team, among other interests. The Thousand Oaks biopharmaceutical company has sponsored the bicycle race since it started in 2006. It is the country’s largest and most popular cycling event with last year’s edition drawing roughly 2 million spectators. In September, Amgen renewed its sponsorship of the race. The length of the renewed sponsorship and other financial details were not disclosed. The 2013 race traversed nearly 750 miles of roadways, passing through more than a dozen California cities, including Palmdale and Santa Clarita. It was won by Tejay van Garderen who races
