For immediate release:
July 25, 2007

Tour of California makes return visit to Sacramento
Second stage of pro bicycle race to finish at state capitol

Following a wildly successful debut run, Sacramento will again be one of the featured Finish Stage stops on the 2008 Amgen Tour of California, the top cycling road race held in the United States, event organizers announced Wednesday.

The 2008 Amgen Tour of California will be staged Feb. 16-24, 2008, across more than 650 miles of scenic state highways, roadways and coastline, according to AEG, a sports and entertainment company based out of Los Angeles. The race will feature many of the world’s best cyclists and teams.

The race begins on Sunday, Feb. 17, with a prologue in Palo Alto. The second stage on Tuesday, Feb. 19, will cover approximately 115 miles, starting in Santa Rosa and it is anticipated to again finish in front of the north steps of the state Capitol in downtown Sacramento.

Levi Leipheimer of Santa Rosa won the 2007 Amgen Tour of California, clocking a combined 24 hours, 57 minutes and 24 seconds over the 650-mile, seven-stage road course. Team CSC won the team classification. J.J. Haedo of Argentina won the Santa Rosa-to-Sacramento stage, out-sprinting a pack of world-class racers down L Street.

In just two years, the Amgen Tour of California has become the most successful race in the United States, both in attendance and economic growth. With more than 3 million spectators over the past two years, the 2007 race drew more than 1.8 million spectators, setting records for a single sporting event in the state of California, as well as any cycling event ever held on U.S. soil. The race also has generated $100 million in economic growth for the state each year.

"We’re thrilled to have the AMGEN Tour of California return to Sacramento,” said Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo. “The community embraced its first experience with this great event last year, turning out by the thousands to watch the cyclists race through the streets of downtown Sacramento. It’s a great showcase for our city.”

Event organizers are finalizing the routes of each stage, but the second stage will feature a thrilling finish down Capitol Mall. The specific routes will be announced this fall.

Race organizers also announced the 12 official stage start and finish cities that have been selected for the 2008 race, including three new locales – Modesto, Palo Alto and Pasadena. San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clarita, Santa Rosa, Sausalito, Seaside and Solvang will join Sacramento as host cities along the route.

"We are committed to making the Amgen Tour of California bigger and better every year, continuing to raise the bar for what it means to be the largest, most important cycling race in America," said Shawn Hunter, managing director, Amgen Tour of California. "From the world-class riders and aggressive and challenging competition, to the tremendous amount of support from the fans and host cities, the Amgen Tour of California has grown to become a highly anticipated event within the international cycling community in only two years. Now in our third year, fans can expect the best race yet."

The Sacramento Region Sports Education Foundation (SRSEF), the 501-c-3 non-profit arm of the Sacramento Sport Commission, reached an agreement with AEG to host this finish stage.

The agreement calls for SRSEF to conduct the event staging in cooperation with Medalist Sports and AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Anschutz Company. SRSEF secured the support of the City and County of Sacramento to assist in much of the logistics ranging from street closure, police services, and permitting among the myriad of requirements to stage such an event.

“The overwhelming response to last year’s race in Sacramento is being rewarded, said John Nunan, chairman of the Sacramento Sports Commission. “The city and county of Sacramento were extremely supportive to the Sports Commission’s efforts in having the Amgen Tour of California return to Sacramento.”

In its first two years, the Amgen Tour of California attracted some of the world's most renowned and respected riders, creating action-packed competition with non-stop excitement. As the winner of the 2007 Amgen Tour of California, California resident Levi Leipheimer (USA) of the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team already has gone on to win two stages in the Tour of Georgia and is currently racing in fourth place in this year's Tour de France.

“After only two years, the Amgen Tour of California is a great race and is one of the greatest races in the world," Levi Leipheimer, general classification winner of the 2007 Amgen Tour of California and member of the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team, said this week from France where he is competing. “I think it has a good place on the calendar. More and more of the world’s best want to come. I think next year we will see an even better field. I think it will just continue to grow like that.”

Beginning with the Prologue in Palo Alto through the grand finale in Pasadena, the 2008 race will visit 12 host cities for official stage starts and finishes, while cities along the route also will have the opportunity to witness the excitement of elite professional cycling. Stages for the 2008 Amgen Tour of California include:

• Prologue: Sunday, Feb. 17 - Palo Alto
• Stage 1: Monday, Feb. 18 - Sausalito to Santa Rosa
• Stage 2: Tuesday, Feb. 19 - Santa Rosa to Sacramento
• Stage 3: Wednesday, Feb. 20 - Modesto to San Jose
• Stage 4: Thursday, Feb. 21 - Seaside to San Luis Obispo
• Stage 5: Friday, Feb. 22 - Solvang time trial
• Stage 6: Saturday, Feb. 23 - Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita
• Stage 7: Sunday, Feb. 24 - Santa Clarita to Pasadena road race, concluding with a circuit race in Pasadena
Amgen is a leading human therapeutics company in the bio-technology industry. For more information on the Amgen Tour of California, visit www.amgentourofcalifornia.com and www.sacsports.com.

ABOUT AMGEN
Amgen discovers, develops and delivers innovative human therapeutics. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen was one of the first companies to realize the new science's promise by bringing safe and effective medicines from lab, to manufacturing plant, to patient. Amgen therapeutics have changed the practice of medicine, helping millions of people around the world in the fight against cancer, kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and other serious illnesses. With a broad and deep pipeline of potential new medicines, Amgen remains committed to advancing science to dramatically improve people's lives. To learn more about our pioneering science and our vital medicines, visit www.amgen.com.

ABOUT AEG
AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Anschutz Company, owns or controls a collection of companies including facilities such as STAPLES Center, The Home Depot Center, Toyota Park, and NOKIA Theatre Times Square; sports franchises including the Los Angeles Kings (NHL), four Major League Soccer franchises, a Major League Lacrosse team, two hockey franchises operated in Europe, management of privately held shares of the Los Angeles Lakers (NBA) and Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA), the ING Bay to Breakers foot race and the Amgen Tour of California cycling road race; AEG LIVE, the organization’s live-entertainment division, is a collection of companies dedicated to all aspects of live contemporary music performance, touring and a variety of programming and multi-media production. Additionally, the company has begun fully developing London’s 28-acre Millennium Dome which includes a 23,000-seat arena, the O2 and over 650,000sf of leisure and entertainment use within the ‘Dome’ and additional arenas, The O2 World on a 45-acre site in the heart of Berlin and in Ontario, California as well as a soccer stadium in Harrison, New Jersey. For more information, visit AEG today at www.aegworldwide.com