February 12 , 2009 - Starting in just a few short days, the Amgen Tour of California marks the final stage of a three-month-long journey for me between Europe, the southern hemisphere, Europe again, and then the USA. Holidaying in New Zealand, shooting the Tour Down Under in Australia, shivering in the numbing cold of The Netherlands for the World Cyclo-Cross championships, before earning my bread and butter at the Astana camp in Santa Rosa - this has been quite a schedule to maintain. And by the time the TOC sprints to its zenith in Escondido on February 22nd, the stage is set for a return to Europe for the next nine months. Yes, as the saying goes, the season then begins for real..!

It is hard to gauge the worldwide importance of the Tour of California while actually being in California. There is so much hype, super-hype and them more hype in the lead-up to the great race that it is easy to forget this is basically a high-class, high-profile training race in the middle of February. The key to the TOC's attraction is that so many of the sport's worldwide sponsors are either American or cherish the vital access to the American market that the TOC provides. Even teams like Rabobank and AG2R are set to reap the benefits of racing in front of an American public - Rabobank has already established quite a banking foothold in the state of California, while AG2R-La Mondiale is a French insurance company wishing to forge ties with an American partner as soon as it can.

Only the very best teams get invited to California to take on the domestic squads in their back yard - and they are obliged to bring their very best cyclists to appease the U.S. sponsors who pay the wages. Riders like Tom Boonen, Oscar Freire, Carlos Sastre, Andy Schleck, Kim Kirchen , Ivan Basso and Mark Cavendish may not actually WANT to race here, but the Specializeds, Cannondales, Giants and Cervelos of this world who value the US market so much, insist on their presence. The pre-race training camps that these teams and riders now hold in California are a testament to the TOC's importance, even if it is all window-dressing rather than sporting substance. Nonetheless, once the race actually starts in Sacramento - come rain or shine - the bullshit factor ends and the serious stuff begins. And this TOC is set to be the biggest, grandest and most watched in its short history.

No-one is bigger in cycling than Lance Armstrong, who has given the TOC a mighty boost that it didn't even need by agreeing to race here in his comeback year. Armstrong is certain to double or quadruple the size of the crowds at starts and finishes, and even though this year's route seems to use as much back-country terrain as possible, we can be sure to expect substantially more spectators than in the past. It is Armstrong's team who lead the way in terms of potency, with Levi Leipheimer determined to pull off a hat-trick of wins, and Armstrong doing the work of a glorified domestique to ensure victory is achieved. All the European-based teams are eying the same target, so to Leipheimer must be added the names of Gesink (Rabobank), Fabien Cancellara (Saxo Bank), Ivan Basso (Liquigas), David Zabriskie (Garmin), and George Hincapie (Columbia).

Despite the organizers' bragging, the route of the 2009 TOC seems a little tame in that it does not have a mountain summit finish above San Diego such as the original plan allowed for. Elite cyclists are a very fit, adaptable breed, even in February, and from what I can make of the stage profiles, none of the climbing stages are likely to provide any surprises. For sure, the final climbs on stages 1, 2 and 4 will hurt the sprinters' legs and shake off some of the climbers' support crews, but it looks to be the TT in Solvang which again carries the greatest race-winning potential. To this end we can assume Leipheimer will work his magic on his favourite TT course, then settle in behind his Astana team for the remainder of the race. If, by chance, Cancellara gets the better of Leipheimer in Solvang, then the last two stages might contain some explosive racing if Cancellara has managed to stay with the overall favorites during the preceding stages.

A lot will be made of Armstrong's presence in the race for the first time, and the added interest of Floyd Landis, Tyler Hamilton and Basso himself - all of them comeback men of a kind. Fortunately, there are far more interesting things to watch and enjoy than to put the spotlight on any past indiscretions. Yet I know it will make for a very strange photo op' when all these guys take front row on the grid for stage one to Santa Rosa. I last saw Landis on the Tour winner's podium in 2006, Basso in California in 2007, and Hamilton way back in the 2004 Vuelta - before his and their lives all came tumbling down! Word on the streets is that Landis is all set to race for his fortune again, that he has been training harder than ever before, and that he intends to kick ass' in the TOC. Which is why I suggest all of you flock to Solvang for the TT - this is where Landis won the first-ever TOC and can maybe win the stage in 2009. Now, he couldn't possibly win overall, could he? Probably not, but he might just be the spark this race most needs, in a strange sort of way…

I'm actually in Solvang now, enjoying a week's quietness between the Astana camp and the TOC Prologue. Although this is a chance to rest up, ride the bike, and generally get over the jet-lag that's accompanied me for the last few weeks, the business end of the sport is never far away. A simple two-hour spin in the lanes of the Santa Ynez valley gets interrupted when six Team Columbia riders pedal past. My appreciation of the area is distracted when a group of Rock Racing athletes comes the opposite way; an OUCH team-car is glimpsed making a study of Solvang's time trial course for the TOC. Even a coffee and pastry stop in the Bulldog café gets disturbed by Hincapie and Cavendish as they order and enjoy their own intake of food and drinks. At least no-one bothers me and my girlfriend as we enjoy evening dinner in one of just two restaurants open at this time of the year. I'll make sure to enjoy the California race and the unique intimacy of the spectator support that comes with it. The real season is just around the corner, but there's nothing like a spectacular warm-up to send us all on our way…

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January 19