Professional bicycle racing's most prestigious event could be on the verge of implosion. But for the third straight year, the Tour of California will return next February and will feature many of the same riders and teams currently participating in the embattled Tour de France.

On the same day as the Tour's race leader Michael Rasmussen of Denmark was kicked out of the race by his team, several cities that held press conferences Wednesday to announce their involvement as stage departure or finish cities for the race's 2008 edition.

The Tour of California will begin Sunday, Feb. 17 with a prologue (a short individual time trial to determine a race leader) at Stanford University in Palo Alto.

Seven stages will follow, and in all the race will include 12 stage start and  and finish cities will participate. In addition to Palo Alto, Modesto and Pasadena, where the event will end Feb. 24, are new venues. Sausalito, Santa Rosa, Sacramento, San Jose, Solvang, Santa Barbara, Santa Clarita, Seaside and San Luis Obispo are returning cities.

Although neither any exact routes, nor any participating teams were announced, the 2008 route is expected to lengthen by about 50 miles to 700 miles.

In its third year, the Tour of California (sponsored by Amgen, a Southern California-based global pharmaceutical manufacturer) has become the country's most prestigious cycling race.

Rasmussen, who missed scheduled out-of-competition drug tests and then lied to his team, hadn't yet been expelled from the Tour when various Tour of California cities held presentations.

Rasmussen finished 94th overall in the 2007 Tour of California, more than 22 minutes behind race winner Levi Leipheimer of Santa Rosa.

In addition to Rasmussen, teams sponsored by Astana and Cofidis have also left the Tour de France after each squad had one o
f its riders test positive for after a stage.

Neither Astana of Cofidis competed in the Tour of California last year. But the eight international trade teams that participated last year, including Rasmussen's team, Rabobank, are all competing in the Tour de France.

Leipheimer is currently third overall in the Tour de France. Leipheimer's young Spanish teammate, Alberto Contador, is the race leader.

In addition to Leipheimer, five other riders among the top-10 in last year's overall Tour of California standings were entered in this year's Tour de France.

Tour of California officials welcomed the new race cities and stressed the event's economic impact and spectator interest.

"We are committed to making the Amgen Tour of California bigger and better every year, continuing to raise the bar for what is means to be the largest, most important race in the America," said Shawn Hunter, the event's managing director.

"From the world-class riders and aggressive and challenging competition to the tremendous amount of support from the fans and host cities, the Tour of California has grown to become a highly anticipated event within the internationally cycling community . . . "

Floyd Landis, the 2006 Tour de France winner, won the inaugural Tour of California, the first of his four major international stage race wins during a season of controversy.

Landis, the first Tour de France champion unable to defend his title via a failed drug test, is awaiting the decision of his recent arbitration against his drug test charges.

Tour of California officials did not announce when teams would begin to commitment to the 2008 event.

The Versus Network (formerly Outdoor Life Network) broadcast the event last year and is expected to televise the event again. Details were not available.