GREENFIELD, Calif. - The Amgen Tour's Stage 5 reroute is getting south county residents pumped up.
"Nothing exciting happens here, but yeah it looks like it's going to be exciting for everybody here. Yeah I'll be here," said Arthur Martinez, Greenfield resident.
"Yeah it brings more people to Greenfield and it will be nice to watch," said Greenfield resident Carlos Sanchez.
They all plan to line up along El Camino Real in Greenfield to cheer on the professional cyclists. The city teamed up with the popular race because a mudslide forced Highway 1 to close at Alder creek, blocking the cyclists' route. Mayor John Huerta said this will be a positive thing for Greenfield and an opportunity for the city to get national recognition.
"It means a lot. It means we're being identified as a city that's regional based. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of folks lined up on El Camino Real to come see the race, and that's going to be exciting for Greenfield and it's an opportunity we're not going to pass," said Greenfield Mayor John Huerta.
Businesses hope people coming to town for the big event won't pass them up along the way.
"I think it's good for business and we're going to pick more customers that we need right now," said Anthony Mireles, Fastrip Food Store employee.
According to the Amgen Tour schedule, cyclists are expected in Greenfield around noon on May 19th.
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SEASIDE, Calif- Stage 5 of the Amgen Tour of California that was supposed to start in Seaside and head down to Paso Robles via Highway 1 has been changed. The mudslide on Highway 1 at Alder Creek has made the highway impassable in that area says the California Department of Transportation.
CalTrans says that two backhoes and two bulldozers are now removing slide debris but that section of Hghway 1 remains extremely unstable.
After working closely with Caltrans and assessing our options, we have determined that it is necessary to re-route Stage 5 of the 2011 Amgen Tour of California," said Andrew Messick, president of AEG Sports.
Stage 5 will still start in Seaside on Canyon del Rey. However, cyclist will now travel to Highway 68 and turn down Laureles Grade and go through Carmel Valley to Arroyo Seco Road and into the City of Greenfield. Once in Greenfield cycllist will travel via Highway 101 to King City and cut over to Lake Nacimiento, till they reach their destination in Paso Robles.
The Amgen Tour of California has released a map of the new route for Stage 5, Click here to see the map.
