James Raia posted his ideas to better the Tour of California. My personal fav is #9!!....and it made me think of how the ToC could be improved even more. My first thought was to include the women!!

Amgen Tour of California, 2010: Ten ideas for a better race

Now that the route for the 2010 Amgen Tour of California has been announced, it's time get on with more important things.

A late-race mountaintop finish is cool. A downtown Los Angles individual time trial appears to be a great idea, too.

And the route for the fifth annual event will be the race's most difficult to date.

But here are 10 things I'd to see happen to make the Tour of California better. Some really should occur. The others? Just having a a little fun, you know?

10. A ban on the use of the word "grueling" throughout the entire eight days by anyone associated with the race. Bike racing is hard. It doesn't need embellishment.

9. A ban on white cycling shorts.

8. A young, unheralded pro taking a flyer and staying away from the big boys.

7. Levi Leipheimer winning a road stage. He's won two prologues, four individual time trials and three overall titles in four years, but not a road stage.

6. The fifth year as the last year of the race's eight-day format. Jonathan Vaughters said it best at the Rose Bowl press conference two years after the final stage. "The race should expand into a two-week race or longer. Let's go for it and do it right or not bother."

5. Discontinue the announcement of attendance estimates after stages. The totals aren't acccurate, they're guesses at best, tablulated by officials with vivid imaginations at worst. Besides, no one cares.

4. Hey, you other 15 cities. Take a look at Santa Rosa. Best city support every year so far. Store front windows decorated with old bikes, woolen jerseys, etc. Fans on rooftops and crowding the streets, all well-behaved and into the race, rain or shine.

3. Media wish (a): A four-color slick race magazine. Not a canned supplement, but the real deal. Athlete profiles, human-interest pieces, statistics, historical cycling essays. OK, sponsors' stuff included if it has to be.

2. Meda wish (b): Mainstream network of radio stations start to finish.

1. Pick any city. Peloton cruising through a small town. Grade school kids are out of classes for few minutes holding up handmade signs about the race. Word gets out. Peloton stops. 125 riders do "knuckles" with 200 kids for a minute or two. Peloton rolls out of town. Kids never forget.