I've been thinking about this since the Giro this year. Why is there no big US stage race. We have an amazing variety of terrain, so why no big stage race. We have smaller stage races (Tour de Georgia) and had other races in the past (Tour de Trump and Tour DuPont come to mind) and we also have an incredibly difficult continent wide race (RAAM), but no Tour. It seems like a waste of some amazing terrain. Plus we've been able to draw more and more of an international field each year with the Pro Cycling Series, USPro's and the TdGeorgia. Guess I'm just curious, that's all.

My take on it is because of the size and scope of such an undertaking, plus the current existing races, plus the spectator/sponsorship support. SuperWeek just concluded here in Wisconsin, 17 days of continuous racing comprised of road and crits, and many international pros showed up for it, plus there was plenty of opportunity for amateurs to participate in it. Perhaps the closest we had here of the races I watched relative to the Tour de France was the Downer Avenue race where the number of spectators were probably the largest. SuperWeek has been going on here for 35 years now.

Why no Tour de USA? Partly because a lot of our races are only regionally known, and partly because the spectator awareness isn't there enough to support one.

This may and can change. A local shop had one of their annual sales this past week, culminating on Sunday along with the culmination of SuperWeek and the TdF. They sold out over half of their bike inventory, a large percentage of their higher end road bikes, and they still have plenty of MTB's in stock indicating to me that road and general purpose bikes outsold the offroad and dual-sport bikes. This may also indicate a shifting trend in bikes sales and interest in the USA, or at least in this region. This may also just be a cause and effect symptom of the TdF coupled with the local racing and the general publics fleeting desire to get back into shape and "be more like Lance" in some way, and as such it may be only a temporary trend. Or it may be an indication of great growth to come.

Logistically though it may be impossible to arrange. Spreading races out over a region greater than 3,000 x 1,500 miles and possibly including Alaska and Hawaii and Pureto Rico and Guam, and having enough sponsorship and sufficient participants to make it viable would be near impossible to carry out successfully. It could be done, but would you be willing to race a 100 mile race one day and then travel 600+ miles to the next venue and do this for 15 to 25 days consecutively? Locally it was hardwork to do within a 200 mile diameter, in France it takes all year to work out all the details, to do so here in the USA would be like trying to combine all the major European races into one series.

A nice idea, and one I'd like to see happen, but realistically I don't think it will.

Just one opinion from a rank amateur.

SuperWeek has lots of different events and sounds like a pretty cool festival. But for a stage race, there's a new one coming in 2005, the United Tour of Texas, that goes 10 stages and 1000+ miles. Their media kit proclaims (correctly, I think) that it'll be the longest stage race ever held in the U.S., and they're definitely shooting to make it the kind of thing you're talking about - a stage race that attracts the top pro teams and puts an American race on the world cycling calendar in a way that TdG doesn't really do.

I imagine it'll take awhile, but I hope they succeed. It'd be great to see an American race gain prominence with the top teams. I know they're hoping that Lance will do the race next fall (it's after the Tour, before the Worlds) to draw attention to U.S. cycling events. Especially if it turns out to be one of the last races he does before he retires, that could really help it draw some attention. Of course, we all had high hopes for the Tour de Trump and Tour duPont, and those efforts fizzled, but I hope this one makes it. Maybe the time is right, with more and more Americans at the top ranks of cycling.

www.unitedtexastour.com

I've head a bit about that race and it's certainly a step in the right direction, but how much climbing is there in Texas? (not trying to say anything bad about Tx at all, I really don't know, never been) The US certainly has the potential for some nice climbs (think the rockies Colorado, Upstate NY, Mt. Washington, etc...) as well as scorching flat stages and some rolling thrown in for good measure. It'd be great to unite everything, now if only I was independently wealthy and could fund a US Grand Tour. :)

I've head a bit about that race and it's certainly a step in the right direction, but how much climbing is there in Texas? (not trying to say anything bad about Tx at all, I really don't know, never been) The US certainly has the potential for some nice climbs (think the rockies Colorado, Upstate NY, Mt. Washington, etc...) as well as scorching flat stages and some rolling thrown in for good measure. It'd be great to unite everything, now if only I was independently wealthy and could fund a US Grand Tour. :)

I don't know the route, really. Texas has about everything, from pine forests to deserts to flatlands to some pretty hilly sections. There would be some good climbs down in the Austin/San Antonio section known as the Hill Country, and some beautiful rides through oak forests around those hills. None of it would rival the Rockies or Sierra Nevadas, but some challenging climbs. That's where Lance makes his U.S. home. We've also got the heat and the wind in other sections as well. Ideally, I'd love to see a tour that maybe started in the Texas Hill Country, fought the desert sections for a while through West Texas, then got back into the mountains in New Mexico and up into Colorado. But United Supermarkets, the corporate sponsor backing this, obviously wants it in the heart of their market. Since nobody else has stepped up to fund one like this, I'm happy with what we've gotten for now. Maybe it can grow from there. Agreed that I'd love to eventually see something featuring the best of the U.S. How about an individual time trial up Pike's Peak? That might make AdH look like run!

I don't think you'd find a sponsor for a Tour of US. Cycling in Europe is huge. It is the second most popular sport behind soccer. As popular as it is, even they have sponsor problems. In the US, cycling is a fringe sport. Considering the logistics and costs involved with a US Tour, what return are the sponsors going to get for their money? I don't see a million fans lining the route to watch a bike race. US citizens have too many other spectator sport choices...

The route I saw included stages in Austin and San Antonio and a stage in the Davis Mountains

I've been thinking about this since the Giro this year. Why is there no big US stage race. We have an amazing variety of terrain, so why no big stage race. We have smaller stage races (Tour de Georgia) and had other races in the past (Tour de Trump and Tour DuPont come to mind) and we also have an incredibly difficult continent wide race (RAAM), but no Tour. It seems like a waste of some amazing terrain. Plus we've been able to draw more and more of an international field each year with the Pro Cycling Series, USPro's and the TdGeorgia. Guess I'm just curious, that's all.

Because cycle racing in the US is about as popular as synchronized swimming.

I was at one of the Superweek stages last Friday. (Great crit, by the way, with our local Postie winning his hometown race for the first time in 12 tries.) Anyway, it takes place during the local annual city party. Half the people there didn't even know (or care) that there was a bike race in their town. Three years ago, as far as I knew, the last bike race in the US was by Cutters. Most people don't even know it exists.

TF

I don't think you'd find a sponsor for a Tour of US. Cycling in Europe is huge. It is the second most popular sport behind soccer. As popular as it is, even they have sponsor problems. In the US, cycling is a fringe sport. Considering the logistics and costs involved with a US Tour, what return are the sponsors going to get for their money? I don't see a million fans lining the route to watch a bike race. US citizens have too many other spectator sport choices...


Just look at the crowds at races like the USPros, NYC classic and what I believe is now the T-Mobile Invitational (could be wrong, can't remember who this years sponser is.) They keep going up. NYC is expecting ~150,000 people for a day of crits. Plus it's going to be covered live by the CBS affiliate. Seems like maybe the ball is rolling. Heck there were people watching my race in Prospect Park two weeks ago. Seems like more and more people are getting into the sport, maybe soon we can reach the heights from the turn of the century when 6 days were held in the Garden and attracted a full house.

Just look at the crowds at races like the USPros, NYC classic and what I believe is now the T-Mobile Invitational (could be wrong, can't remember who this years sponser is.) They keep going up. NYC is expecting ~150,000 people for a day of crits. Plus it's going to be covered live by the CBS affiliate. Seems like maybe the ball is rolling. Heck there were people watching my race in Prospect Park two weeks ago. Seems like more and more people are getting into the sport, maybe soon we can reach the heights from the turn of the century when 6 days were held in the Garden and attracted a full house.


Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see a US Tour. I just believe cycling's popularity in the US has a long way to go before we'll see one.

Most people don't even know it exists.
Amend that to read "most bike shops don't even know it exists".

From personal experience trying to learn about local races from bike shops is often an exercise in futility.

For myself as I rediscover an active cycling life this year I am logging down races and times frames and next year I will be doing what I can to promote the local racing scene, even if it's simply putting notices on various shop bulletin and community boards (which is more than I've found in the past).

Communication is key to success. Even if you have someone who'd like to get into racing, they won't be racing if they don't even know there is a race to enter.

({[Sorry, rant mode off]})

First of all, everyone else is dead on about the lack of sponsors being the major shortfall for these kinds of events happening in the US.

Another interesting problem is jet lag, and how it effects the body. I don't know where i read it, but I believe Lance had a quote somewhere saying it took him a couple of weeks to really get back into a good rhythm and into good form after traveling from US to Europe or vica versa. This may be one of the reasons there weren't many top Euro pros at the "big" american races this year. A few good guys showed up at TdG and Philly, but certainly not the kind of names you'd see at a 1.2 or 1.3 race in Europe.

So, once we acknowledge the fact that riders won't be coming over from Europe, that means there will have to be a big domestic circuit with enough riders to populate a major stage race and not have 10-20% of the field eliminated on the first big mountains. I can see it happening, but it won't be in the next 5-10 years.

Silas

Money, money, and more money.

If a major corporation (say General Motors or Microsoft) decided it wanted a race like that to happen it would. While the proposed Pro Tour rules would be an issue, you would be surprised how big cash on the table and proper scheduling would open the right doors.

But the perceived return on investment in cycling for US Companies is pretty low- even in the middle of Lance-mania here. Its easier and cheaper just to sponsor a rider or a team rather then a Grand Tour.

:(

I've been thinking about this since the Giro this year. Why is there no big US stage race. We have an amazing variety of terrain, so why no big stage race. We have smaller stage races (Tour de Georgia) and had other races in the past (Tour de Trump and Tour DuPont come to mind) and we also have an incredibly difficult continent wide race (RAAM), but no Tour. It seems like a waste of some amazing terrain. Plus we've been able to draw more and more of an international field each year with the Pro Cycling Series, USPro's and the TdGeorgia. Guess I'm just curious, that's all.

I hope Georgia becomes that race. It has possibilities. It's at a good time, it has a good course, and it's on the east coast. If the UCI could bump it up to 2.2 or 2.1, it should draw better teams and/or riders from Europe.

There are two main reasons the USA doesn't have a big stage race. First, America is at least a six hour flight from Europe. Second, the UCI calendar. There's nowhere to put one right now that would encourage the top Euro teams to send their top riders. To get stars to come, ideally it would be in May or June, but then it has to compete with Switzerland, Romandie, Dauphine, and Catalonia, which are all HC races, not to mention the Giro. You aren't going to get Ullrich to fly over to America to do a 2.3 race when he can be going up against Tour contenders in Europe.

Look at the problems of the self-proclaimed "toughest" race in America, the GP San Francisco (or whatever it's called). It's on the west coast, which makes for a really long flight from Europe, and it's also smack in the middle of the Vuelta. That's not very appealing for the big Euro teams and their stars. Last year, some big boys came over (Simoni, Garzelli) because they were coming over anyway to race the Worlds in Canada. Obviously that can't happen every year.

I don't think you'd find a sponsor for a Tour of US. Cycling in Europe is huge. It is the second most popular sport behind soccer. As popular as it is, even they have sponsor problems. In the US, cycling is a fringe sport. Considering the logistics and costs involved with a US Tour, what return are the sponsors going to get for their money? I don't see a million fans lining the route to watch a bike race. US citizens have too many other spectator sport choices...


If you were at the tour de georgia, you may not have said this, the final stage was completely packed, i think they projected a couple hundred thousand people on/around the final circuit.

I've been thinking about this since the Giro this year. Why is there no big US stage race. We have an amazing variety of terrain, so why no big stage race. We have smaller stage races (Tour de Georgia) and had other races in the past (Tour de Trump and Tour DuPont come to mind) and we also have an incredibly difficult continent wide race (RAAM), but no Tour. It seems like a waste of some amazing terrain. Plus we've been able to draw more and more of an international field each year with the Pro Cycling Series, USPro's and the TdGeorgia. Guess I'm just curious, that's all.


On either Velonews or Cycling news this morning, they had an article about the tour.

45% of French households watched the tour on TV. Stage 13 had an estimated 8 million viewers. You're not going to get those numbers in the US.