Road Bike Racing - Tour of America?

How does a 27-stage, 4000 mile, pro bike race from New York City to San Francisco with an $11 million prize list sound? I hope this is for real: http://www.velonews.com/race/dom/articles/13387.0.html
Further details are supposed to be announced tomorrow at Interbike.

I hope it's not.

There's already another thread about this, btw.

Fredelicious.

Seems like it goes everywhere, itd be fun to go watch

Stupid, its a great Idea to do a tour of America, I'm stoked, but a 250+ mile race is just stupid, no one will want to race it. it would take 10 hours.

And it's just plain too long.

The established Major Tours have shortened stage length and limited the number of stages, in large part due to doping issues. So this tour makes them longer and has more of them.

The site yuo can eventually link to has inconsistencies. It looks like stage 5 is a TTT, yet the notes at the bottom say stage 11 is a TTT.

Look at their jerseys! They have their own 'unique' jersey leader on placing. It is determined by adding the place on each stage for each rider, lowest wins. This scheme was used in the past in the TDF. For the G.C. for sure and I think also for the sprinters at one point. There is a reason why it was discarded. That they would re-create it shows their total lack of cycling knowledge.


Yea right. I would not touch this with a 10 foot pole if I were the D.S. of a major team. I might if I were the D.S. of a not so major team, but only if the prize money were deposited in an escrow account with a major accounting firm.

it would be cool but the term 'pie in the sky' comes to mind.

80 mile time trials, one of them an ITT mountain stage? WTF?!

80 mile time trials, one of them an ITT mountain stage? WTF?!

exactly.

80 mile time trials, one of them an ITT mountain stage? WTF?!

Thats sounds retaaahded..


On top of that no stages in CO and a 400 km stage.. ? WTF?

I would love to see it. But as it is set up it will never happen. The prize money will attract riders and teams the distances will drive them away. I think I counted 14 stages over 200 miles. 4000 miles is not going to happen. They should keep it to the usual grand tour distances and days. There is nothing special about riding across the country. So the riders should get on the planes or trains and the trucks can drive a few hundred miles to the next stop to limit the days and distances. As proposed it ain't gonna happen although I would like to see it.

I'm trying to figure out what kind of pro riders would want to do this. I can see some of the lower paid domestic pros being interested, but there would be no reason for the top tier protour riders to do this.

Still, I'd definitely come out and watch the finish in SF.

I'm trying to figure out what kind of pro riders would want to do this. I can see some of the lower paid domestic pros being interested, but there would be no reason for the top tier protour riders to do this.

Still, I'd definitely come out and watch the finish in SF.

The prize list gives them 11,000,000 reasons to enter. Even at todays exchange rates, that's a nice amount of money.

Thats sounds retaaahded..


On top of that no stages in CO and a 400 km stage.. ? WTF?

I'll bet the ACA said f-no!

1. This is supposed to occur in September. This runs concurrent with the Vuelta which already has a more difficult time attracting the very best GC riders since it's at the end of a very long season. It also bumps into the World Championships.

2. It is proposed to run east to west. This means that a. they will ride into a headwind most every day and b. will ride into the sun every day. Right. Sure.

3. There are multiple stages that are well over 200-250 miles. No way that works. I especially like the Chattanooga to Asheville beauty.

Has to be a joke.

geesh 4700 miles in a month! That is more than I will probably do for all of 2007!

This has got to be a joke. Why would anyone who has any knowledge of the sport make a race that long?

Or, could it be a ploy to include as many states as possible? That would give them the biggest batch of sponsors to hit up.

Part of me wonders...

If the TdF is falling apart at the seams, then could this be a cockeyed attempt to upstage it? I'm all for it. It can't hurt cycling fans. Much.

Good luck staffing that event.

I especially like the Chattanooga to Asheville beauty.

Has to be a joke.

That stage probably has like 24000' of climbing too. :rolleyes:

It takes 'em 27 days to do what RAAM does in 9 or 10? Wussy. ;)

BF members will be required to volunteer for marshaling duties. No exceptions. botto, this means YOU.

Like they're ever going to get anybody to do multiple 200 mile stages. Has to be a goof.

Marshaling?
Or is it Hands Across America all over again?

no colorado stages would really kill it for me. ah the good ole days of the coors classic. the morgal bismark.

no colorado stages would really kill it for me. ah the good ole days of the coors classic. the morgal bismark.

How about the morgul bismark stage? Same thing, but with Orcs pursuing you. Wait, that's like riding with Cypress.

Never mind.

Part of me wonders...

If the TdF is falling apart at the seams, then could this be a cockeyed attempt to upstage it? I'm all for it. It can't hurt cycling fans. Much.

No American race could become that big - - the Europeans would never take notice.

In the unlikely event the TdF died, the Giro or Vuelta would no doubt try to ramp up to take its place.

Whoever came up with the route is being much too kind. Come on...three rest days? Wussies.

Any further mention of this from Interbike? I'm more than half inclined to think it's all a big joke.

September? Folks return back to work after summer vacations, kids return to school, and then competition with NCAA football, NFL, and the MLB race to the post-season. Not to mention TV Fall schedules crank up. Don't bother. Attention spans will be low.

Stupid, its a great Idea to do a tour of America, I'm stoked, but a 250+ mile race is just stupid, no one will want to race it. it would take 10 hours.

And it's just plain too long.

+1

the length of those stages are ridiculous

Any further mention of this from Interbike? I'm more than half inclined to think it's all a big joke.

Mentioned this to a guy at work who races and he pointed out that the route length grossly violated UCI rules and that hoaxes like this are common, though usually published on April 1.

This guy is seroius.

He currently has no sponsors.

He has never organized an event.

This will never happen.

I emailed the tour director with a link to this thread and one on another forum and he responded that due to the responses they are paring down the mileage and number of stages to a typical grand tour. Who knows if they will pull it off but there is certainly a lot of money available and most teams have enough riders to participate in two tours at the same time. I'd like to see it happen, hopefully successfully.

There are some interviews on Velonews. Even during the original press conference at Interbike, they were already talking about cutting down the stages. The bigger problem is they have no announced commitments from sponsors or cities along the route. With such a complex route, they need to firm up the route quickly to make sure it all fits together. Without support from cities to close down their streets, the race isn't going to happen. I am really surprised that they did not hire an experienced race organizer to put together this race.

Im planning the first Tour of Mars next spring......



I have no money

I have no investors

I have no way to get to Mars

But I posted this on the internet so its true

There are some interviews on Velonews. Even during the original press conference at Interbike, they were already talking about cutting down the stages. The bigger problem is they have no announced commitments from sponsors or cities along the route. With such a complex route, they need to firm up the route quickly to make sure it all fits together. Without support from cities to close down their streets, the race isn't going to happen. I am really surprised that they did not hire an experienced race organizer to put together this race.

You'd need:

• A race that is 20-22 stages tops

• 2500-2700 miles tops

• BIG sponsorship $. Huge, or the UCI teams wouldn't bother.

The logistics are quite problematic. To be a true 'Tour of America' the transfers between finishes and starts would be long and cumbersome.

It's a major pipe dream boys. Next topic.

You'd need:

• A race that is 20-22 stages tops

• 2500-2700 miles tops

• BIG sponsorship $. Huge, or the UCI teams wouldn't bother.

The logistics are quite problematic. To be a true 'Tour of America' the transfers between finishes and starts would be long and cumbersome.

It's a major pipe dream boys. Next topic.

Next topic:
Corn

Who would like to start?

Next topic:
Corn

Who would like to start?



No matter how much you chew corn it always comes out whole. Anybody figure that one out?

This race would be awesome if they announced there would be no doping controls.

Im planning the first Tour of Mars next spring......



I have no money

I have no investors

I have no way to get to Mars

But I posted this on the internet so its true

I also heard it was going to be merckx vs lemond vs armstrong all at the top of their games!!

I'm disappointed that it completely misses the top half of the country with the mountains and scenery and the beautiful ride down Hwy 101 along the Pacific down to Cali.

No American race could become that big - - the Europeans would never take notice.

In the unlikely event the TdF died, the Giro or Vuelta would no doubt try to ramp up to take its place.

The Giro is already a better race than the Tour de France.

Better route, more variety, more difficult climbs...

The Giro is already a better race than the Tour de France.



Quick, somebody tell the entire world. Oddly, they don't seem to give a ****.

I emailed him too:

Sent: Sun 9/30/2007 2:23 PM
To: Richard Dunn
Subject: Tour of America


Mr. Dunn,

Not to be rude, but there are a majority of us out there in the
cycling world that think this is a joke. The stages are too long, it
conflicts with the Vuelta, there's an 80mile TT and a ITT in the
mountains... and it skips Colorado! The biggest issue is obviously
the stage lengths.

I'm not trying to antagonize you, I'm just really concerned about the
legitimacy of this event and, if it IS real, would like to see it
pull some major pro teams... but as it stands from the info on the
website, that's not going to happen.


Rob

Got this response:

Date Fri, 5 Oct 2007 11:42 AM ( 37 mins 58 secs ago )
From "Richard Dunn" <RichardD@aqusports.com> ]
Subject RE: Tour of America Show full header

Rob,

Thank-you for your e-mail and sorry for the delay in responding. Yes, this is very ambitious cycling project and we fully understand all of the challenges that are in front of us. At this time the overall length and route of The Tour Of America are being adjusted to a more realistic concept. Please go to our website often for current information regarding the progress of The Tour Of America.

www.thetourofamerica.com

Richard Dunn
Race Director
The Tour Of America
richardd@aqusports.com

From the website cited in hte previous post:

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


These guys live in a dream world.