An 800-mile Tour de France-style road race tailored for California will be back next May and include two stages in the Los Angeles region, race officials announced today. The Tour of California is scheduled for May 15 through 22 and will hold stages between Claremont & Mount Baldy and Santa Clarita & Thousand Oaks, home to the sponsoring company Amgen. more ›

Some of Los Angeles' "most recognizable landmarks, including Walt Disney Concert Hall, the University of Southern California, the LA Coliseum and STAPLES Center," were what participants in the 2010 Amgen Tour of California whizzed past on the seventh day of the race, chronicles RoadCycling.

Tony Martin (GBR) of Team HTC-Columbia emerged victorious with a time of 41 minutes and 41 seconds. Finishing in second place, three-time individual time trial world champion Michael Rogers (AUS) also of Team HTC-Columbia, will retain the Amgen Leader Jersey heading into the final stage of the race.

Stage Six of the 2010 Amgen Tour of California brought cyclists through the burn-scarred hills of the Angeles National Forest, offering riders an up-close look at what the Station Fire did to the hills north of Los Angeles. more ›

Supposedly the cycling world was "rocked" by the allegations of doping that ex-Tour de France winner Floyd Landis made about his former teammates at US Postal Service. This weekend not only marks the finale of the Amgen Tour of California (be sure to watch today through Sunday as all these stages will be going through the greater-Los Angeles area) but it also marks the finale of Floyd Landis' credibility. more ›

The Amgen Tour of California got a bit dramatic yesterday. Even before the race began, cyclist Floyd Landis admitted to using drugs and then accused Lance Armstrong of doing the same, which he denied. Not too long after and within a few miles of the stage, a crash left Armstrong injured and out of the tour. more ›

It's day five of the Tour of California and Lance Armstrong is out, according to the Associated Press. Just a few miles into the 121.5 leg from Visalia to Bakersfield this morning, a rider fell when his bike skidded some gravel. The incident caused other cyclists to go down with him, sending Armstrong to the hospital for stitches to his elbow and cheek. So far, no tweets from the usually active Armstrong, who was accused of doping earlier today. more ›

Bicycle rider Floyd Landis admitted to ESPN.com's Bonnie D. Ford over a telephone interview that he used performance enhancing drugs throughout his career which included winning the 2006 Tour de France before being stripped of the title after testing positive for synthetic testosterone. more ›

Yesterday we expressed our frustration with Versus' complete lack of content in Monday's broadcast of the Amgen Tour of California - we had deluded ourselves that things couldn't get any worse. Tuesday's broadcast of stage 3 from San Francisco to Santa Cruz started out great, beautiful footage of familiar roads and climbs, albeit without an attempt at an explanation for why no footage from stage 2 could be broadcast on Monday. more ›

Yesterday, after 113.3 miles along the Pacific Coast Highway and through redwood forests between San Francisco and Santa Cruz, David Zabriskie (USA) of Garmin Transitions took first prize. He came in just one second before last year's tour winner, Levi Leiphemer, at 4 hours, 26 minutes, 9 seconds. Michael Rogers, rounding out what some call the big three of the race, came in between the two taking second price. more ›

In last night's penultimate episode of "24" we (finally) experienced some of the uncompromising action that made the series so exciting when it first debuted almost nine years ago. Now the stage has been set for next Monday's finale, it's official: it's Jack Bauer vs. the World. We're tuning into "Lost" tonight to see how they're setting up for Sunday's finale. more ›

Last night marked the series finale of "The Pacific", and while we've expressed frustration with accuracy, and a general feeling of apathy for the characters, last night's episode was probably the best one - without a shot being fired. [Spoiler Alert] As we saw these men return to the States, reintegrate (or not) with their families, we finally felt some real empathy for them. It was very well done with the exception of the myriad of post-scripts preceding the credits. more ›

The 800-mile Amgen Tour of California got its start yesterday, making it way from Nevada City to Sacramento. 24-year-old Mark Cavendish, who is a 10-time Tour de France stage winner and is known for his sprinting skills, took the win for the day for the HTC-Columbia team. The 104.2-mile leg took him 4 hours 4 minutes 6 seconds. more ›

Weekend Highlights: Saturday - We've eagerly been anticipating Betty White's hosting of "Saturday Night Live" since we reported on it in March. She was great on Jimmy Fallon last night and we feel pretty confident that the comedy veteran will have elicited the best writing and performances the "SNL" crew can muster. more ›

The complete details of this year's 800-mile Tour of California were released last week, showing off the details for the final three stages, set in the Los Angeles area. Stages 6 through 8 will race from Pasadena to Big Bear Lake [Update: this is now Palmdale to Big Bear], downtown L.A. and in the Santa Monica Mountains between Agoura Hills and Thousand Oaks, home to Amgen, the race's sponsor. more ›

As we noted yesterday, downtown Los Angeles and Thousand Oaks/Westlake Village/Agoura Hills will be hosts for the 2010 Amgen Tour of California (it will also include a stage from Pasadena to Big Bear Lake). Announced this morning, here is the full route and all of its 750-mile glory: more ›

Although it has not been officially announced, LAist has learned that the Amgen Tour of California bicycle race will go through at least two Southern California cities next year during its new date in May. Downtown Los Angeles and the cities of Thousand Oaks (home to the sponsor, Amgen), Agoura Hills, Westlake will play host to the race's fifth year. The full route is expected to be announced tomorrow morning at a series of events throughout the state, but organizers are encouraging fans of the race to follow four Twitter accounts tomorrow morning to be up to date on the latest news. more ›

The Tour of California's 750-mile route through the state took nine days and drew an estimated two million fans. And most appropriately a California native, Levi Leipheimer, won it for the third consecutive time in the tour's four-year history (Floyd Landis, also from California, won the first tour) with teammate Lance Armstrong making his first U.S. comeback and placing seventh overall. more ›

Yesterday's 88-mile stage whipped from Santa Clarita through and over the San Grabriel Mountains in the Angeles National Forest to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Californian Levi Leipheimer kept his overall lead while teammate Lance Armstrong dropped down to 6th place. more ›

Two-time defending champion of the Tour of California, Levi Leipheimer won Friday's 15-mile time trial from Solvang through the Santa Ynez Valley and back, helping inching him closer to a third victory. Now in a lead of 36 seconds, all eyes are on him. more ›

Noon tomorrow is the beginning of the Tour of California's penultimate stage, which is the only portion of the race that goes through the Los Angeles region. And with Lance Armstrong making a comeback, expect large crowds. more ›

For the second day in a row, 23-year-old Mark Cavendish of Britain won yesterday's stage, a 134-mile route from Visalia to Paso Robles, mostly on the San Joaquin Valley floor. more ›

Overall, the Tour of California's fourth stage--115 miles from Merced to Clovis--was much better when it came to the weather yesterday (sunny and snow covered mountains!). But with three days of straight cold rain, organizers and bicyclists are considering changing the dates to later in the year. more ›

Even though the majority of eyes are focused on Sunday's Oscars, this Saturday, the Writers Guild of America will be doling out their awards and a sampling of scuttlebutt with regards to TV leaders include "Mad Men", "30 Rock", "The Office", "The Wire", and "True Blood". more ›

Stage 3 of the Tour of California between San Jose and Modesto tested riders endurance and will to take another onslaught of cold rain on their 101 mile journey. However, there's good news today: "The forecast for the Central Valley calls for mostly sunny skies, which will improve the riders' dispositions and the television broadcast," the Mercury News reports. more ›

Today AMC launched the beginning of a series of webisodes for its excellent series, "Breaking Bad", in advance of its new season starting on March 8th. more ›

The Tour of California exemplified the state's beauty yesterday, running 116 miles from Sausalito to Santa Cruz over the Golden Gate Bridge, along the ocean (close enough for waves to spray riders) and through redwood tree lined arteries. "This was certainly a great showcase for two iconic locations in the state of California," said Andrew Messick, president, AEG Sports, referring to the bridge and the finish line in Santa Cruz, both which are firsts for the race. more ›

"Holy hell. That was terrible. Maybe one of the toughest days I've had on a bike, purely based on the conditions. I'm still freezing." That's Lance Armstrong on Twitter after yesterday's first rainy and cold stage of the Tour of California, a 107 mile, about 5 hour ride, from Davis to Santa Rosa in Sonoma County. more ›

San Francisco based photographer Matt Cohen reports from yesterday's Tour of California with photos and explanations of what happened: more ›

This weekend, the AMGEN Tour of California hit two Los Angeles area cities, Santa Clarita, yesterday, and Pasadena, today. Photographer Scott Groller was kind enough to share some photos from the finish line of Stage 6 in the Valencia neighborhood of Santa Clarita. The cyclists traveled 105.4 miles from Santa Barbara for a ride that lasted over four hours. more ›

OK so the PBS examination of the Haditha massacre is going to be pretty heavy duty tonight, there's a couple options for lighter fare, and of course the season finale of Nip/Tuck will be the pornographic prime time finish. more ›