Originally Posted by DrWJODonnell
The tours here require sponsors who need to be willing to pony up a LOT of cash.
PS. As much as I could hope it would be so, ToC wouldn't become as large as any of the grand tours...now how about a tour of the southwest (CA, NV, AZ, UT) as a Grand tour? I would think it more likely (Though still darn near impossible).
Sure. Much like the TdF crosses over and visits Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, etc.
I think the current ToC format is very limiting (not enough climbing) and the calendar positioning is poor. The ToC was blessed with unusually benign weather -- it's rare to have a whole week of sun in February. If the ToC is going to be more like a GT, it's going to have to move to the warmer months when the mountain passes of the Sierra open up. Otherwise there can't be much variety in the stages.
I'm speculating, but I wonder if there are bigger plans for the ToC. UCI President Pat McQuaid was out here in Calif to observe for a reason, and notice how the ProTour sent top teams to make sure the inaugural race was much more than a regional RR. McQuaid's been quoted as saying the UCI very much wants to "globalize" bicycle racing.
It'll be interesting to see how the ToC evolves over the next 4 years.