These photographs are from the start/finish line in downtown Escondido. For the first time in the history of the race, it started in Southern California. The course for Stage 1 wound it's way through San Diego County and had three climbs including a category 1 climb up Mount Palomar. The temperature was also around 100 degrees, and the combination of the heat and the climbs made for a dramatic opening race.

These photographs are from two on-course locations, the first points Sprint in Hemet 42 miles into the race, and at the last turn onto Tramway Road with the climb to the finish 3.7 miles away. The final climb was a grueling average 9% grade over the 3.7 miles, and combined with a temperature over 110 fahrenheit, tore the peloton apart with the last racer finishing almost 38 minutes after the first.

Photographs of this Stage are from the start, on course and the finish. The course looped through the Sierra Pelona Mountains with what are considered mild climbs. The section photographed was about 21 miles into the race just after the first KOM climb. The finish was a full field mass sprint.

The photographs of this stage are from the start in Santa Clarita and the finish in Santa Barbara. It was a relatively short course of only 83 miles that was mainly downhill with only two ranked climbs, the first a catagory 4 about 30 miles into the course and the second a category 3 at about the 60 mile mark. It was a fast race that took only 3:14 with a mass sprint at the finish.

Stage 5 of the 2013 Tour of California had one of the most dramatic finishes in the history of the Tour. Jens Voigt with RadioShack Leopard Trek, who was also the oldest rider in the race at 41, made a breakaway for the finish with about 5 kilometers to go. He caught the Peloton off guard, the other teams didn't know how to handle his break, and he managed to hold his lead to win the race several seconds before Tyler Farrar of Garmin-Sharp finished second in a wild sprint up a steep climb.

The course of the Time Trial was, as the Tour organizers claimed, the hardest Time Trial course in race history. It had many peaks and valleys with a long stretch into a harsh head wind followed by an almost 2 mile, 10 percent grade, climb to the finish. The course was 19.6 miles long and Tejay Van Garderen was the fastest racer with a time of 48 minutes, 52.37 seconds, which was an average speed of 24.1mph, much slower than last years time trial where winner David Zabriskie averaged 30.9mph. Zabriskie, who is one of the best US time trail racers, was expected to do well but crashed in a 'warm up' ride before the race and broke his clavacle and pulled out of the Tour. One racer also could not finish in time and was disqualified, most likely due to the difficulty of the course.

This was the first time the Tour raced to the summit of Mount Diable. The climb up Mt. Diablo was the longest in this years race with about 3200 feet of climbing over 11.2 miles. While not particularly steep overall, the length of the climb makes it extreemly tenacious and broke the Peloton up into several groups. The photos of this Stage are from the start in Livermore and the final turn on the climb up Mt. Diablo, 4.5 miles from the finish.

For the second time in the history of the Tour of California the race crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. They then followed the coast north and cut over to Santa Rosa for the finish. The Peloton held together for the most part and the race ended in a mass sprint at the finish.

The closing ceremonies were as dramatic as the race. For Tejay Van Garderen it was the first major victory of his career. And for the first time in Tour of Califonia history, on the final podium was a racer from a Continental Team, Janier Alexis Acevedo Calle of Jamis-Hagens Berman finished in third place overall.