Photo by Harry How|Getty Images

Featuring 17 teams of eight cyclists representing 30 countries, the peloton will include eight World Champions, including reigning road race champion Peter Sagan, who also holds the record for Amgen Tour of California stage wins (15) and the 2015 race title. Competing by his side will be BORA-hansgrohe teammate Rafal Majka (POL), who won the road race bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio.

Sagan will be defending the Visit California Sprint Jersey, which he’s won six times, against the likes of Team KATUSHA ALPECIN’S Alexander Kristoff (NOR), Quick-Step Floors’ Marcel Kittel (GER), Trek-Segafredo’s John Degenkolb (GER), Team Dimension Data’s U.S. rider Tyler Farrar and Team Sky’s Elia Viviani (ITA), who took gold in the 2016 Olympic Games Omnium event.

Two other riders return to defend jerseys won last year: Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team’s Toms Skujiņš (LAT), who earned last year’s Breakaway from Cancer® Most Courageous Rider Jersey; and Rally Cycling’s Evan Huffman (Elk Grove, Calif.), fresh off his Tour of the Gila win, who captured the 2016 Lexus King of the Mountain Jersey. Huffman will have a challenge in Team Dimension Data’s Lachlan Morton (AUS) and BORA-hansgrohe’s Rafal Majka (POL), who won the Tour de France climbing contest last year.

With 25 U.S. riders in the field, including Cannondale-Drapac’s fan favorite Taylor Phinney (Boulder, Colo.), three who finished in the top-5 overall in last year’s Amgen Tour of California return seeking a podium spot: BMC Racing Team’s Brent Bookwalter (Rockford, Mich.), the only American cyclist to race in both the Tour de France and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games last year; Cannondale-Drapac’s Andrew Talansky (Key Biscayne, Fla./Napa, Calif.); and teammate Lawson Craddock (Houston, Texas) finished 3-4-5, respectively, in 2016. On their heels in 7th place last year was Team Lotto-NL Jumbo’s George Bennett (NZL), who will be contesting for top billing on the leader board along with 2015 7th place finisher Ian Boswell (USA) of Team Sky, who has since gained experience in two European Grand Tours.

Favorites in popular categories include:

General Classification (Overall Contenders)
· Brent Bookwalter (USA), BMC Racing Team (BMC)
· Ian Boswell (USA), Team Sky (SKY)
· Rob Britton (CAN), Rally Cycling (RLY)
· Lawson Craddock (USA), Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team (CPT)
· Gregory Daniel (USA), Trek-Segafredo (TFS)
· Robert Gesink (NED), Team LottoNL-Jumbo (TLJ)
· Evan Huffman (USA), Rally Cycling (RLY)
· Rafal Majka (POL), BORA-hansgrohe (BOH)
· Lachlan Morton (AUS), Team Dimension Data (DDD)
· Peter Sagan (SVK), BORA-hansgrohe (BOH)
· Samuel Sanchez (ESP), BMC Racing Team (BMC)
· Andrew Talansky (USA), Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team (CPT)
· Serghei Tvetkov (MOD) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis

Sprinters
· John Degenkolb (GER), Trek-Segafredo (TFS)
· Tyler Farrar (USA), Team Dimension Data (DDD)
· Marcel Kittel (GER), Quick-Step Floors (QST)
· Alexander Kristoff (NOR), Team KATUSHA ALPECIN (KAT)
· Travis McCabe (USA), UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team (UHC)
· Keil Reijnen (USA), Trek–Segafredo (TFS)
· Mark Renshaw (AUS), Team Dimension Data (DDD)
· Peter Sagan (SVK), BORA-hansgrohe (BOH)
· Danny Van Poppel (NED), Team Sky (SKY)
· Elia Viviani (ITA), Team Sky (SKY)
· Eric Young (USA), Rally Cycling (RLY)

Climbers
· Ian Boswell (USA), Team Sky (SKY)
· Lawson Craddock (USA), Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team (CPT)
· Evan Huffman (USA), Rally Cycling (RLY)
· Rafal Majka (POL), BORA-hansgrohe (BOH)
· Lachlan Morton (AUS), Team Dimension Data (DDD)
· Tom Skujins (LAT), Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team (CPT)
· Andrew Talansky (USA), Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team (CPT)
· Serghei Tsvetkov (MOD) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis

Stage Wins
· Ian Boswell (USA), Team Sky (SKY)
· Brent Bookwalter (USA), BMC Racing Team (BMC)
· Rob Britton (CAN), Rally Cycling (RLY)
· Tyler Farrar (USA), Team Dimension Data (DDD)
· Robert Gesink (NED), Team LottoNL-Jumbo (TLJ)
· Alexander Kristoff (NOR), Team KATUSHA ALPECIN (KAT)
· Travis McCabe (USA), UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team (UHC)
· Danny Pate (USA), Rally Cycling (RLY)
· Taylor Phinney (USA), Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team (CPT)
· Keil Reijnen (USA), Trek–Segafredo (TFS)
· Peter Sagan (SVK), BORA-hansgrohe (BOH)
· Samuel Sanchez (ESP), BMC Racing Team (BMC)
· Tom Skujins (LAT), Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team (CPT)
· Jonas Van Genechten (BEL), Cofidis, Solutions Crédits (COF)

Individual Time Trialists
· Maciej Bodnar (SVK), BORA-hansgrohe (BOH)
· Brent Bookwalter (USA), BMC Racing Team (BMC)
· Lawson Craddock (USA), Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team (CPT)
· Peter Kennaugh (GBR), Team Sky (SKY)
· Soren Kragh Andersen (DEN), Team Sunweb (SUN)
· Danny Pate (USA), Rally Cycling (RLY)
· Taylor Phinney (USA), Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team (CPT)
· Andrew Talansky (USA), Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team (CPT)