Levi Leipheimer won the 2008 Solvang Time Trial of the Amgen Tour of California and later the race. (File photo courtesy of SolvangUSA.com)

The 2014 Amgen Tour of California, the largest cycling race in the U.S., will visit four cities in the Tri-Counties in May.

The eight-day annual event, which draws thousands of visitors at each time trial, said Nov. 5 that it will roll through Cambria, Pismo Beach and Santa Barbara before concluding at the finish line in Thousand Oaks, where biotech giant Amgen is headquartered.

Cambria and Pismo Beach are first-time host cities for the tour.

“The Amgen Tour of California has had a very positive impact on our community in the past. It is exciting that Santa Barbara will again be part of the Tour,” Kathy Janega-Dykes president and CEO of Visit Santa Barbara, the tourism marketing organization for South Santa Barbara County, said in a news release. “The Amgen Tour raises awareness of what a great cycling destination we are, Santa Barbara receives global media exposure during the race, and there is a noticeable boost in business for our local hotels, restaurants and attractions during the event.”

The race will start in Sacramento on May 11, then head to Folsom, San Jose and Mt. Diablo. Stage 4 of the event will start in Monterey and end in Cambria on May 14. Stage 5 starts in Pismo Beach and finishes in Santa Barbara on May 15. From there, the tour goes through Santa Clarita and Pasadena before Stage 8 concludes in Thousand Oaks on May 18.