Tour of America offers new proposed course

The Tour of America is continuing to try and present a workable race for 2009. Its latest proposal has 21 stages and runs 2205 miles/3555 kilometres from Somerville, New Jersey, to San Francisco, California. The planned dates are September 5 to 27, 2009.

The proposal features one team time trial of 16 miles/26 km in Morgantown, West Virgina, and an individual time trial of 12 miles/19 km in Vail, Colorado – both of which may or may not involve climbing. The final time trial would be 35 miles/57 km in Sacramento, Calif., in the 19th stage.

The race would be run with two rest days, both of which involve air transfers. The first nine stages run from Somerville, New Jersey, to Indianapolis, Indiana. Stage 10 starts in Boulder, Colorado, where stage 15 also ends. In between there are four mountain stages, plus the time trial.

After another flight on a rest day, the action continues in Reno, Nevada, and three mountain stages followed by the longer time trial, before ending in San Francisco.(SW)

(Additional research and assistance provided by Susan Westemeyer).