Originally Posted by
cafzali
The Tour of Beijing was part of the "Pat McQuaid genius" and was his way of "demonstrating" the global growth of the sport. It was a dumb idea when it was launched, is a dumb idea now and no one will miss it when it's gone.
It has always struck me funny that the UCI is so bad at marketing, while golf is so good at it. When you get down to it, while cycling's global audience is smaller, the demographic is very appealing and could definitely be capitalized on if the UCI had more people who were actually good at marketing.
Have to disagree.
Comparing golf to road cycling as 'marketing opportunities' is ridiculous. Golf is an individual leisure competitive sport for the Western middle and upper classes and at a professional level is played on private ground where spectators can be charged. Road cycling is a minority sport in the vast majority of countries, difficult to understand as evidenced by 'newbie' questions and spectators have almost unrestricted access.
Road cycling also has a 'reputation' that many 'fans' here are determined to perpetuate. Bring up your interest in cycling to any man or woman in the street and 9 times out of 10 you know who/what they're going to mention.