The 2010 Tour was held over eight days, down from nine in
2009. This change is due to the current economic state after the recession of the last several years. A four-rider breakaway took the intermediate sprints and the one small climb on the course. The riders in the break were
Maarten Tjallingii,
Marc de Maar,
Paul Mach, and
Chad Beyer. A chase group, with a rider each from , , and
Fly V Australia was between the leaders and the peloton for several miles of racing, but were unable to make the bridge. They attained a maximum advantage of close to six minutes, but at the head of the peloton did not let them stay away. The catch occurred shortly before the circuits in Sacramento began. Team HTC-Columbia continued to control the race during the circuits in preparation for
Mark Cavendish's sprint, except for a brief moment when appeared at the head of the peloton to try to set up
Juan José Haedo. Crashes depleted the leading group and reduced the number of sprinters present to try for the stage win, though all riders were given the same time as stage winner Cavendish since the crashes took place very close to the finish line on a flat stage. Time bonuses won during the stage meant the first general classification was not the same as the results of stage one.
Stage 2 May 17, 2010 — Davis to Santa Rosa, This stage was mostly flat, using most of the same course from stage 1 of the 2009 race. A notable diversion from that course, however, occurred around from the finish line in Santa Rosa, with the climb of Trinity Road. The stage was slowed by rainy conditions. An early breakaway including
Karl Menzies () and Thomas Rabou () was caught. A group of twenty riders made a dash for the finish, with the win and the leader's jersey going to Brett Lancaster. For his efforts in the breakaway, Rabou gained the climber's jersey and the most-aggressive rider title.
Stage 3 May 18, 2010 — San Francisco to Santa Cruz, This course included the Tour's first major climb, of
Bonny Doon road, from the finish. It was on this climb in the 2009 race that Leipheimer first took the lead that was eventually his overall margin of victory. At Bonny Doon, Levi Leipheimer, David Zabriskie, and Michael Rogers charged ahead. The peloton gave chase, but failed to make the catch, ending up 17 seconds behind. At the line it was Zabriskie who edged out the other two, to gain the time bonus and overall lead.
Stage 4 May 19, 2010 — San José to Modesto, This was a flat stage, and used the same course as Stage 3 from 2009. At the mark, the peloton faced a difficult, technical climb up Sierra Road, but after descending it there were no further difficulties in the route. A mass sprint finish was expected, with the potential for high winds, common in the
San Joaquin Valley, to make it so general classification contenders have to work hard to stay with the leading group.
Stage 5 May 20, 2010 — Visalia to Bakersfield, After a lengthy transfer, two new towns were visited in Stage 5. This was categorized as a flat stage, though a climb with a 14% gradient occurs early in the stage and the finish in Bakersfield included three visits to a climb that tops out over 10% in grade. However,
Lance Armstrong crashed just outside Visalia in Stage 5 and had to withdraw from the Tour of California.
Stage 6 May 21, 2010 — Palmdale to Big Bear Lake, This has already been declared the
queen stage of the 2010 Tour, and may be the most difficult stage in the Tour's five-year history. It was the first Tour of California stage ever to conclude with a mountain climb. The climb to Big Bear Lake reached in elevation. but the roads on which the course would have traveled were damaged by heavy snowfall at high elevations in 2010, making them unsafe to use. The stage began just north of the
Angeles National Forest at Palmdale City Hall and visited the
San Gabriel and
San Bernardino Mountains, incorporating more climbing than the original course from Pasadena. From there, the race headed south along the
Angeles Forest Highway before cutting across the Upper Big Tujunga Canyon to travel on the undamaged part of the course as previously designed.
Stage 8 May 23, 2010 — Thousand Oaks circuit race, The Tour concluded with a hilly circuit race in Thousand Oaks, with a steep climb up
Mulholland Highway before finishing in
Westlake. The circuit course was long, and it was covered four times. It reaches a height of . ==Final standings==