Five reasons to watch the Amgen Tour of California

Turn off Karl and Kochie and turn on the live cycling action from Monday 14 - Sunday 20 May right here on SBS.

The Tour of California from Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita on May 17, 2017 in Modesto, California. Source: Getty

The Tour de France is not the only beautiful cycling event you could be watching on SBS. And if you missed our recent coverage of epic races like Paris-Roubaix, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Nice the Tour of California lets you dive right in before the big dance around France in July.

And here's why:

1. Blessed be the froot loops - you can watch it LIVE while eating your brekky

That's right - no insomnia needed to imbibe on this cycling action. Save all your sleep for July.

And turn off Karl and Kochie and turn on Phil and Paul from Monday 14 - Sunday 20 May.

Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen at the recent Amgen Tour of California. Source: Getty

Now officially part of the WorldTour calendar, the Tour of California is live on SBS and streaming via On Demand and here  at the following times (all AEST):

Monday 14 May: 0600 - 0900 

Tuesday 15 May: 0600 - 0900

Wednesday 16 May: 0630 - 0900 

Thursday 17 May: 0630 - 0900 

Friday 18 May: 0630 - 0900 

Saturday 19 May: 0700 - 0900 

Sunday 20 May: 0500 - 0700 

Relive how last year's race finished up:

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2. Stunning vistas

Believe it or not, stunning scenery exists outside France and people race their bikes in it. And California's got bags and bags of it. Here are some shots from last year's race.

Amgen Tour of California 2017 stage 4 landscape from Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita (159,5km) (Getty) Source: Getty

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More stunning scenery from the 2017 Tour of California (Getty) Source: Getty

Tour of California dreamin' (Getty) Source: Getty

3. Quirky fans, places and place names

Sure there's no Col du Tourmalet or Alpe d'huez but this year's race visits some cool and/or quirky places like Long Beach, Santa Barbara, San Jose, Elk Grove, Folsom (yep, Johnny Cash's Folsom) and Lake Tahoe while names like Mt Baldy and Big Bear Lake are etched into the race's folklore. 

And as the mankini is to the Tour de France, so is antler guy to the Tour of California. Apparently first spotted in 2009, we're pretty sure it's not the same guy who trots this out every year.

Antler guy at the 2016 Amgen Tour of California on May 15, 2016 in San Diego (Getty) Source: Getty Images

And there are loads of other fans who go to a lot of effort for the riders.

Not the Met Gala but the 2017 Tour of California (Getty) Source: Getty

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4. This guy

Caleb Ewan at the 2018 Abu Dhabi Tour (Getty) Source: Getty

Young Aussie sprinting sensation Caleb Ewan is gearing up for a big July. The Tour of California offers the perfect chance to fine tune his finish and his sprint train before his debut at the Tour de France. 

And he'll be up against:

4. These guys, and a showdown

Fast men Marcel Kittel and Mark Cavendish at his year's Abu Dhabi Tour. Source: Getty

And of course:

Peter Sagan Source: Getty

Expect a sprinter's showdown on stages 1, 5 and 7 with fast men Mark Cavendish, Marcel Kittel, Peter Sagan and Caleb Ewan all lining up.

Kittel bested Sagan on stage 1 last year:

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Sagan responded on stage 3: 

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Catch the 2018 Tour of California here on SBS and streaming via On Demand from Monday 14 - Sunday 20 May: