Originally Posted by JamesV
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.
There are plenty of gnarly mountain passes in the San Gabriels and San Bernardinos that are open this time of year. They don't have quite the high altitude of the Sierras, but if you want some good climbs they're certainly available, along with some nice places for mountaintop finishes (Mt. Wilson, Mt. Baldy are two that I ride regularly). Those two even have multiple approaches except for the last 5 mile stretch, so you can run service vehicles up one route and the race up another. They're nicer this time of year than in the summer, when it gets *hot*.
Not only did they send top teams, they had their top US riders leading them in order to be more attractive to the local crowds. It's partly a result of having a large number of top US racers develop over the past 10 years-- In Lemond or early Armstrong days it would have been hard to have this many top teams led credibly by US riders.