This past Friday proved to be a beautiful day on many accounts – the weather was gorgeous, a sunny 75, and many spectators, media and cycling enthusiasts alike flocked to the quaint little Danish town of Solvang to take in the 6th stage of the Amgen Tour of California.

A fantastic Tour of California finished yesterday with an incredible Oakley exposure and also with fantastic results for our international cycling team

A day after setting a new American record and winning gold in the individual 4 kilometer pursuit, Taylor Phinney set another American record on his way to winning the 1K time trial cycling’s Track World Cup finals on Friday.

George Hincapie described the scene at the Amgen Tour of California prologue in Sacramento Saturday, saying only Tour de France crowds could compare. And those crowds were treated to a Tour de France-caliber show, with Oakley’s Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) blazing the downtown 3.9km course with a winning time of 4:32.

The largest cycling event in America, the Amgen Tour of California is a Tour de France-style cycling road race, presented by AEG, that challenges the world’s top professional cycling teams to compete along a demanding course.

Following a successful season debut in the Tour of Qatar, Columbia-Highroad sprint ace Mark Cavendish says he will be aiming high in the Tour of California – which starts this weekend. Cavendish took two wins in three days in Qatar, and is now ready for action in the nine-day American race.