Cyclists share a passion at Amgen Tour

Cycling: Community of riders shows support for international tour on Saturday

Steve Cueller and his two sons — both under 10 years old — might not race in any professional races, but they certainly put some miles in.

Whenever the three want dinner at McDonald’s they hop on their bikes and complete a 10mile, round-trip ride to the restaurant and back.

“Our popular ride is we live off of Wiley and all the way to McDonald’s, there’s a steel bridge, and it’s 10 miles from there and back,” Steve said. “So when they want to go to McDonald’s, go eat, but we’ve got to burn the calories to get there and ride back.”

So for the Cueller family, it was a huge deal for the final stage of the Amgen Tour of California to start in Santa Clarita on Saturday morning. Cueller’s sons held the ribbon at the starting line for the men’s race, which featured professional riders that the young cyclists couldn’t wait to see.

Anthony Cueller, an elementary school student, said that meeting the riders was his favorite part of the day and was particularly looking forward to meeting Peter Sagan.

Sagan, of Slovakia, finished second in the seventh stage of the tour. Cees Bol finished first in the stage and Tadej Pogacar finished first overall in the tour.

Elisa Balsamo came in first in the third and final women’s stage and Anna van der Breggen came in first in the tour.

The riders not only brought out the Cuellers, but also what seemed to be the entirety of the Santa Clarita cycling community. Spectators of all ages rode into Valencia Town Center on their own bicycles to get a glimpse of the world’s best cyclists.

“The beauty of the Amgen Tour of California is it’s a free event to the public,” said Kristin Kline, president of Amgen Tour of California race. “So as you can see people can just walk up, you can see the riders get up close to them, which differentiates itself from any other even in the world.”

In addition to bike paths on most major roads, there are plenty

things. He just gets the kids excited about swimming. He’s a well-known name and he’s going to be deeply missed.”

Serving as the Hart boys and girls swim coach since 1984, Neale has churned out plenty of elite swimmers with the likes of two-time world record holder and four-time Olympic medalist Anthony Ervin.

Touching and influencing the lives of many Santa Clarita Valley swimmers, Neale has been a staple in the community for decades as former Hart swimmer Wilson Bellows, who swam under him for four years (2008-11) attests.

“When I was a freshman, I sucked,” Bellows said. “By the time I was a senior I became one of the fastest guys on the team. He’s probably an icon. When people think of swimming in this valley they think of Neale.”

Hart swimmer junior Ryan Sevidal, who was part of the 2019 Hart boys swim team that won the Foothill League regular-season title, has spent the past three years under the tutelage of Neale and was with him on his final trip up to the CIF-Southern Section State meet held at Clovis West High School on May 10 and 11.

“He made everyone from Hart swim his family,” Sevidal said. “To have 30 years worth of family to build upon is just amazing. It’s going to be completely different without him. Hopefully, we have the same amount of hype going into next year. A lot of seniors are leaving too, but we will try to carry it on.”

Elevating the level of swim in the Foothill League and Santa Clarita Valley for over three and a half decades, Neale has created champion swimmers, led title-winning teams and molded young men and women alike into accomplished student-athletes.

Neale’s charm, smile and upbeat attitude will all be sorely missed.

“Hart swim will never be the same without him because he basically rallied us through everything and that’s history,” Sevidal said. “He started Hart swim so now that he’s gone it feels like an essential part will be gone from Hart.”