Huge crowds lined the climb of Mulholland Highway during the 2010 Amgen Tour of California's final stage. (Image credit: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us)
Amgen Tour of California organiser AEG has announced that Colombian Continental outfit Movistar Team will ride the 2011 edition, which begins in South Lake Tahoe on May 15.
It will be an historic occasion for the team, which becomes the first Colombian squad to be invited to America's biggest stage race, which boasts nine ProTeams on the start list in addition to four ProConti squads and six Continental outfits - including Movistar Team.
The Colombian squad, directed by Libardo Leyton, boasts riders of eight different nationalities, with Colombians Fredy González and Hernán Darío Muñoz, Mexican riders Ignacio Sarabia, Juan Pablo Magallanes, Luis Fernando Macías, and Costa Rica's Gregory Brenes plus Venezuelans José Alarcón and Carlos Galviz.
The team will prepare for the season in Colombia before its presentation and 2011 debut in national events before the Amgen Tour of California in May.
AEG added the team onto its already full 18-team roster this week without fanfare. The UCI instituted a new rule in January whereby all Americas Tour races must invite the top three teams from the UCI's continental tour rankings. Movistar was on the list with two other Colombian teams.
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