Tour of America announced

iainf72

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/Tou ... 45829.html

:shock:

homercles

Some stages in the Rockies would be cool. Saying that, if the evidence of the post about commuting in LA is anything to go there's work to be done on the enthusiasm of the American public towards cycling just yet!

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12545415

Lance out of retirement, anyone?

Salsiccia

It sounds like a great idea, but can you see many of the big names willing to take part in a 30 day race? 27 days racing is a lot, so the only way it could happen is shortish stages and lots of transfers, which riders hate.

iainf72

Is a race that long UCI legal?

pat1cp

"This event will be the greatest international cycling event in the world," said Aqu, Inc. President Frank Arokiasamy. :roll: :roll: :roll: Typical American attitude, why have a small one when you can go big !!!!!

Where would it fit in the calender ???? Are Unipublics' (Vuelta) bums twitching ????

iainf72

They obviously don't know that the quality of the cheese a country produces has an effect on where the race sits in the pecking order.

Hence France at the top and Italy second.

They will have negotiated a spot in July next year for it with the UCI - Just wait....

LangerDan

I'd bet that this race never gets off the drawing boards. The $1 million, 3-day "Race of Champions" scheduled for Abu Dhabi has gone belly up because of difficulties with getting sponsors, yet $11 million in prize money has been found for this? Its unlikely that the ProTour teams will commit riders to this so the field would likely be composed of US-based professional teams.

Given the chequered history of professional stage races in the US (Red Zinger / Coors Classic, Tour Du Pont, Tours of Georgia and California) it seems a very big leap to commit to something of this magnitude.

My guess is that if this happens at all, it will end up as a "ProTour" type league for the Tours of California, Georgia, Missouri and perhaps another stage race, with the "$11 million" being, in effect, an acuumulator based on the same rider winning all 4 races (Like the $1 million that Lance won and then didn't win a decade ago)

vermooten

LangerDan wrote:

I'd bet that this race never gets off the drawing boards.

+1

Sounds impressive but anyone can issue a press release. Anyone who follows IT will be familiar with venture capital-raising statements like this one.

Ratkilla

'America's largest spectator event in the history of US sport'. ?!?!?!

The 'market' in America is untapped for a reason. They aren't interested in 'sports' that are even faintly European.
They want sports like rounders and netball renamed and made more masculine and sports where they can have a World Series where only teams from North America compete.
Leave them to it.

CM92S4E

And how are they planning to fit that in the calendar? It requires too much racing and resting afterwards and before to actually be taken seriously by most of the riders. Will never work.

iainf72

CM92S4E wrote:

And how are they planning to fit that in the calendar? It requires too much racing and resting afterwards and before to actually be taken seriously by most of the riders. Will never work.

Ahhh, but I think you need to look at what the UCI are doing with the PT. They're desperate to push cycling in non-trad cycling markets AND have absolutely no control over the races we actually care about.

If there is budget for this etc, they will back it to the hilt.

iainf72

It's got to be a wind up.

http://thetourofamerica.com/index.php?o ... &Itemid=33

400km stages?

It's like written by someone who doesn't know a thing aboot cycling.

Is it this years Sony Ericcson scam?

andyp

iainf72 wrote:

It's got to be a wind up.

http://thetourofamerica.com/index.php?o ... &Itemid=33

400km stages?

It's like written by someone who doesn't know a thing aboot cycling.

Is it this years Sony Ericcson scam?

Or it's like it was written by someone who read about the early editions of the Tour de France and decided to use it as a blueprint. Will the winner later be discovered to have taken a train?

LangerDan

This is from the home page:

"Unfortunately there is not a large enough cycling event in this country worthy of assembling the worlds best talents most of whom are Americans."

Freedom Fries, anyone?

afx237vi

iainf72 wrote:

It's got to be a wind up.

http://thetourofamerica.com/index.php?o ... &Itemid=33

400km stages?

Cool! They should make the riders wear thick woolen jerseys, and make them fix their own mechanical problems! And no water bottles from the car either - in fact, no team cars! Like totally awesome. And get Duffers to commentate!

Unless they get the RAAM lunatics to compete, this'll never, ever happen.

afx237vi

LangerDan wrote:

This is from the home page:

"Unfortunately there is not a large enough cycling event in this country worthy of assembling the worlds best talents most of whom are Americans."

Freedom Fries, anyone?

Yeah and the prologue from ground zero on a date that's closest to Sept 11... *retch*

LangerDan

iainf72 wrote:

Is a race that long UCI legal?

Nope - the UCI limit for "Major Tours" is 3500km, this is over twice that. In addition, the UCI will only allow a maximum of two stages over 260km, by special permission. This race has 18 stages between 260 and 410km.

There is also an 80-mile Team TT - max allowable is 80km.


Curiouser and curiouser........

skavanagh.bikeradar

At least this is a bit more lighthearted a topic. Unless it ends up as a UCI backed cock-up. Every chance then.

jimmythecuckoo

Its not PC to say it but Amercians annoy the hell outta me.

Salsiccia

jimmythecuckoo wrote:

Its not PC to say it but Amercians annoy the hell outta me.

It's not PC, but it's a widely shared feeling...

spen666

jimmythecuckoo wrote:

Its not PC to say it but Amercians annoy the hell outta me.

You are a muslim terrorist and I claim my $5 reward :twisted: :twisted:

LangerDan

spen666 wrote:

jimmythecuckoo wrote:

Its not PC to say it but Amercians annoy the hell outta me.

You are a muslim terrorist and I claim my $5 reward :twisted: :twisted:

Spen
Do you have software that automatically detects threads with the term "PC"?

iainf72

jimmythecuckoo wrote:

Its not PC to say it but Amercians annoy the hell outta me.

But not enough to stop you saying "outta"

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/outta

:P

squired

I can't wait to see what the details are about this race once it has been officially announced. This is potentially the sort of event I think the likes of the ASO have been in a panic about (leading to their spats over the ProTour).

With global tv coverage, a huge prize money pool and access to the American market a grand tour in the US would be a major threat to the dominance of races like the Tour de France. If I was a cyclist the potential of earning loads of money would definitely appeal. Would I want to do the Vuelta where I can make a few hundred Euros, or this new race and make a whole lot more?

Clearly it will be interesting to see how this fits into the rules and regulations of the UCI. Also, it would be extremely hard to design a race that long that is able to stay interesting until the end (particularly in terms of the GC) and capture the interest of fans for a whole month. Lets face it, the Vuelta was essentially three of the dullest weeks of cycling seen this year.

Ratkilla

afx237vi wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

It's got to be a wind up.

http://thetourofamerica.com/index.php?o ... &Itemid=33

400km stages?

Agree. This is totally barking mad. Has to be a hoax. The stages are ludicrous. Still p*ssing myself laughing!
If it is a hoax it's a good one I must say.

andyp

squired wrote:

I can't wait to see what the details are about this race once it has been officially announced. This is potentially the sort of event I think the likes of the ASO have been in a panic about (leading to their spats over the ProTour).

With global tv coverage, a huge prize money pool and access to the American market a grand tour in the US would be a major threat to the dominance of races like the Tour de France. If I was a cyclist the potential of earning loads of money would definitely appeal. Would I want to do the Vuelta where I can make a few hundred Euros, or this new race and make a whole lot more?

Clearly it will be interesting to see how this fits into the rules and regulations of the UCI. Also, it would be extremely hard to design a race that long that is able to stay interesting until the end (particularly in terms of the GC) and capture the interest of fans for a whole month. Lets face it, the Vuelta was essentially three of the dullest weeks of cycling seen this year.

Do you really think this or are you trying to get a rise?

:shock:

Why would American consumers throw off a hundred years of tradition and suddenly take an interest in a sport which, previously, they've ignored completely?

iainf72

There are not many things I'm sure about in this world, but I'm pretty sure ASO aren't losing any sleep over this.

Salsiccia

Unipublic might though - it's scheduled for September... and given the only decent Vuelta of recent years was dominated by Blood-and-Thunderthighs Vinokourov, this might look oddly attractive to some teams and sponsors. That is if it's not a hoax.

Sintesi

LangerDan wrote:

Freedom Fries, anyone?

Don't forget your Liberty toast either!

pat1cp

It would clash with the Worlds too. I think it's a wind up.

Salsiccia

The more I look at that site the more it looks like a wind-up. On the leaders jerseys page:

"The tradition of using the color yellow to signify the race leader is over 100 years old in professional cycling and it is the color of the Overall Leader jersey."

The yellow jersey was awarded at the earliest in 1913.

It is either a fairly elaborate hoax or some crack-pots who don't know their arses from their elbows.