Originally Posted by roadwarrior
They call out the Tour...I don't disagree that the Tour has a lot of power, but I see this as a similar situation to the one close to my home with the battle between the factions of open wheel auto racing that has been raging for nine years and destroyed the sport.
Sorry to go a little off topic, but, are you referring to the CART/IRL deal?
I hated that... it really did ruin my interest in it. I think it made the Indy 500 much less of a grand thing than it used to be, for one. I almost feel bad for 'giving in' and watching IRL races sometimes. It seems like all my favorite pro racing organizations are really going through changes, (they will or have been), and in some cases, its really hurt the sport IMO.
The announcement of the Pro Tour thingy quickly reminded me of NASCAR's new Nextel Cup series system, or the changing Formula 1 series...
I sure hope this doesn't create a power struggle between organizations.
Like Don D said, maybe this could be good for the sport. It could possibly make things a little more understandable to new fans, for one. Maybe more of a 'structure' in a racing season will make more sense to the fans.
One main thing I see that I will dislike about this is the lack of lesser teams in some big races... (especially the grand tours) I don't really see that as much of a problem for the Tour de France, as, in my mind, its the international tour (or atleast, you would think the organization would want it to seem that way). But with the Giro and Vuelta, we may miss out on seeing some good or up-and-coming riders, who are on lesser teams, shine.