2018 Tour of California: The overall podiums(Image credit: Getty Images)
2006 Tour of California: Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) takes the first leader's jersey, presented by Arnold Schwarzenegger(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
2006 Tour of California: Surfs Up? Olaf Pollock won a surf board with his stage 7 victory in Redondo Beach(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
2006 Tour of California: The final podium - (L to R) Glen Chadwick (Navigators, most aggressive), Floyd Landis (Phonak, overall winner), Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner, mountains), Olaf Pollack (T-Mobile, sprints), and Tom Peterson (TIAA-CREF, best young rider).(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
2007 Tour of California - Discovery Channel lead the peloton for overall race leader Levi Leipheimer(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
2007 Tour of California - George Hincapie (Discovery) and Dave Zabriskie (CSC)(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
2008 Tour of California: Stage 4 peloton races over Bixby Bridge(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
2008 Tour of California: Dominique Rollin (Toyota-United) wins a rain-soaked, seven-hour-long, coastal stage 4(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
2008 Tour of California: Bradley Wiggins (HighRoad) races the Solvang time trial(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
2008 Tour of California: Levi Leipheimer racing the time trial in Solvang(Image credit: Kurt Jambretz)
2009 Tour of California: Fabian Cancellara beats Levi Leipheimer in the prologue(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
2009 Tour of California: Francisco Mancebo (Rock Racing) wins in Santa Rosa(Image credit: Mark Johnson)
2009 Tour of California: Rain and fog enshroud the Golden Gate Bridge as the peloton crosses(Image credit: Rob O'Dea)
Emilia Fahlin (HighRoad) wins the 2009 Tour of California one-day women's race(Image credit: Garett Lau)
2008 Tour of California: Andrew Messick presented the first Amgen Women's Tour of California race podium - Laura Van Gilder, Brooke Miller and Emilia Fahlin.(Image credit: Nathan Dauglash)
2010 Tour of California: Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) powers to a sprint win on the Amgen Tour of California's opening stage.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Lance Armstrong at the 2010 Tour of California(Image credit: Getty Images)
2010 Tour of California(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
2010 Tour of California: Californian dreamin': Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Doimo) nets his team back-to-back stage wins.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
2010 Tour of California up to Big Bear (Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
17-year-old Coryn Rivera (Peanut Butter & Co TWENTY12) win the bunch sprint at 2010 Tour of California women's one-day race(Image credit: Mark Johnson)
2011 Tour of California: RadioShack teammates Chris Horner and Levi Leipheimer win on Mt Baldy(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
2011 Tour of California(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
2011 Tour of California: Twins Ben and Andy Jacques-Maynes raced for Bissell Pro Cycling(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Evelyn Stevens at the 2011 Tour of California one-day women's time trial(Image credit: Mark Johnson)
World Champion Emma Pooley at the 2011 Tour of California one-day women's time trial(Image credit: Mark Johnson)
Kristin Armstrong won the 2011 Tour of California one-day women's time trial(Image credit: Mark Johnson)
2012 Tour of California: Peter Sagan(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
2012 Tour of California along Highway 1(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
2012 Tour of California winner Robert Gesink (Rabobank)(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Tejay van Garderen and his newborn child on the podium(Image credit: Getty Images)
2013 Tour of California(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
2013 Tour of California(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
2014 Tour of California: Bradley WIggins (Team Sky)(Image credit: Getty Images)
2014 Tour of California: Races into Pasadena(Image credit: Getty Images)
2014 Tour of California: Along the coastal Highway 1(Image credit: Getty Images)
2014 Tour of California Women's Race(Image credit: Getty Images)
2014 Tour of California Women's Race: Carmen Small wins circuit race(Image credit: Getty Images)
2014 Tour of California Women's Race: Alison Powers wins overall(Image credit: Getty Images)
2015 Tour of California on the Pacific coast(Image credit: Getty Images)
2015 Tour of California mascot(Image credit: Getty Images)
2015 Tour of California Women's Race - South Lake Tahoe(Image credit: Getty Images)
Julian Alaphilippe 2015 Tour of California(Image credit: Getty Images)
Peter Sagan wins 2015 Tour of California(Image credit: Getty Images)
2015 Tour of California Women's Race: Katie Hall wins in South Lake Tahoe(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
2015 Tour of California Women's Race: Leah Kirchmann wins circuit race(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Trixi Worrack wins 2015 Tour of California Women's Race(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Julian Alaphilippe and Tom Boonen at the 2016 Tour of California(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Mark Cavendish at the 2016 Tour of California(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Julian Alaphilippe won the 2016 Tour of California(Image credit: Getty Images)
Cow-crossing at the 2016 Tour of California(Image credit: Getty Images)
Rohan Dennis at the 2016 Tour of California(Image credit: Getty Images)
2017 Tour of California - Evan Huffman (Rally)(Image credit: Getty Images)
2017 Tour of California - Peter Sagan(Image credit: Getty Images)
2017 Tour of California to Pismo Beach(Image credit: Getty Images)
Megan Guarnier at the 2017 Tour of California Women's Race(Image credit: Getty Images)
Katie Hall stage 2 winner at the 2017 Tour of California Women's Race(Image credit: Getty Images)
2017 Tour of California Women's Race(Image credit: Getty Images)
Anna van der Breggen won the 2017 Tour of California Women's Race(Image credit: Getty Images)
2018 Tour of California Women's Race - Kendall Ryan wins opening stage(Image credit: Getty Images)
2018 Tour of California Women's Race - Arlenis Sierra wins finale(Image credit: Getty Images)
2018 Tour of California Women's Race - Katie Hall celebrates overall victory(Image credit: Getty Images)
2018 Tour of California Women's Race - Race by the orange groves(Image credit: Getty Images)
2018 Tour of California - Egan Bernal wins overall title(Image credit: Getty Images)
2018 Tour of California - Toms Skujins wins at Laguna Seca(Image credit: Getty Images)
2018 Tour of California - Egan Bernal (Team Sky)(Image credit: Getty Images)
2019 Tour of California overall winners: Anna van der Breggen and Tadej Pogacar(Image credit: Getty Images)
2019 Tour of California: Tadej Pogacar wins overall(Image credit: Getty Images)
2019 Tour of California(Image credit: Getty Images)
2019 Tour of California: Tadej Pogacar wins overall title(Image credit: Getty Images)
2019 Tour of California Women's Race: Anna van der Breggen wins overall title(Image credit: Getty Images)
Organisers of the Tour of California, AEG, announced Tuesday that it will be putting its WorldTour men's and women's stage races on a hiatus for the 2020 season, which will leave the US without a top-tier event.
The Tour of California held its inaugural edition of the men’s stage race in 2006 and the first edition of a women’s one-day event in 2008. That year, the Amaury Sport Organisation [ASO] and Anschutz Entertainment Group [AEG], owners, respectively, of the Tour de France and the Tour of California, formed a multi-dimensional marketing partnership to grow and develop each other's events, a partnership that remained in place.
The men’s race has always been a prominent week-long event attracting many of the best riders in the world to compete in February before the race moved to a warmer May slot on the calendar. The women’s race started as a one-day criterium before adding a separate invitational time trial, and became a multi-day race in 2016.
Both events joined the WorldTour ranks in 2016.
The Tour of California has often showcased the state's postcard-worthy coastal and mountain scenery. Everything from the iconic stretches of the Pacific Coast Highway to high mountain finishes at Mt Baldy, Lake Tahoe and Big Bear.
The race has also crossed famous landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge and Bixby Bridge, time trialled through the quaint town of Solvang, and sprinted into places like Leguna Seca, the Rose Bowl Stadium and at the State Capitol in Sacramento.
Click through the gallery of images above that highlight key moments from the Tour of California men's race held between 2006 and 2019, and the Tour of California Women's Race held from 2008 to 2019.
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