http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=features/2008/tour_of_california_jul08
I think the article is a bit misleading. the headline says it will end on Palomar but the actual quote in the article says: "The final stage is planned to be a mountain stage up Mt. Palomar. Whoever wins the race will have to have legs on the final day!"
Earlier they had announced that stage nine would start in Rancho Bernardo and end in Escondido so I think that it climbs Palomar but finishes in Escondido..
Interesting though that they are climbing Palomar in February... Could be interesting conditions.
It might not be a very comfortable stage finish for spectators if it ends there.
On the Amgen tour website http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/Route/stages.html it just says route and stage info coming soon. Given the start in RB and the finish in Escondido, I was assuming they were doing the Highland Valley death march out to Ramona, on to Palomar (maybe Mesa Grande), and back to Escondido, which is long and tough, but typical of the kind of miles they do. Has anyone else got more details of the route?
well, the website says it ends in Escondido but the article does say it will be a mountain top finish on Mt. Palomar. One of them is wrong.
It would be kind of interesting to finish at the top of Palomar. Interesting Logistics to make that happen with the mountain being covered with spectators a la Alp d'huez..
Probably we'd have to ride up to watch it... and, it might be snowy and cold at the top and not fun for the Tour riders to descend in.
They said they were trying to avoid Sierra snow covered mountains so, .. don't know what they are thinking here.