For the last two years it was almost impossible not to hear a rumor about the Amgen Tour of California moving the race date to May or June. Well, it seems that the rumors have been more than just rumors, with the Amgen Tour of California now going to take place in May of 2010.

The new dates of the Amgen Tour of California are going to be May 16-23, in the attempt to get back the glorious warm and dry weather of the races first two years. In 2008 and 2009 the race had to suffer through very wet, rainy, and windy conditions. By moving the race to May the weather should be more typical of Southern California with warm and dry conditions.

One of the other big reasons for the date change has been the inability to race in the big mountains of California due to roads that are not passable due to snow. Hopefully now the weather in May will allow the race to head to the Lake Tahoe and High Sierra areas. This would also give the Amgen Tour of California the chance to have a mountain top finish they have been looking for.

The negative to a May race date, is that it will be in direct competition with the Giro d’Italia as well as other UCI ProTour events.

You can expect to see larger crowds, and more interest in America, with the warmer weather that would be predicted in May.

At Bicycle.net we welcome the date change, and plan to be there for each and every stage.