ProTour going to Russia and China next year

McQuaid has already chosen the dates.

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/articl...nd-china-14654

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"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates

Looks like he is out of his depth again. A quote from the article:

Despite long-standing rumours of the ProTour expanding into Russia, arguably the country's most famous cycling son, Astana directeur sportif Viatcheslav Ekimov, seemed surprised by McQuaid's comments tonight.

"McQuaid really said that it would happen? I have no idea," Ekimov told BikeRadar.com. "I really can't think of anyone who might be organizing this. If it's going to be around Sochi, it'll be in the same region as one the biggest races we used to ride in the old Soviet Union, the Sochinskuja Gonku...If that's the case, there's quite a good cycling culture there, and the crowds should be pretty big. If it goes ahead, Astana will definitely be taking part".

After answering our questions, Ekimov scuttled off in McQuaid's direction, no doubt with a few of his own.

LOL, the big newswe were all waiting for!

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With the ProTour adding races in China and Russia to the ENECO tour and the Tour of Poland, I feel confident that the UCI will soon rival the ASO and RCS.

If it were not for the travel expenses, it seems like the UCI could build a decent set of races for second tier teams. The ProTour has reduced the opportunities for ProContinental teams to race the biggest events.

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"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates

I would think adding more races that are dotted around the world would just add more strain to the Pro Tour teams.

Even though the TDU has popularity, the biggest guns on the teams did not go there, given the logistics.

Wouldn't races in Russia and China suffer the same fate?

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"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." -- Wayne Gretzsky

The timing of the TdU was not great either. It's too early in the season. I wonder when the tours of Russia and China will be scheduled. Maybe December?? The off season will consists of two weeks in November.

Boonen was complaining about jet lag from returning from the ToC. A worldwide race series would seem to have some serious flaws.

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"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates

If the UCI wanted to build a worldwide series from the ground up, they would have seventeen or eighteen week long stage races run every other week in a different country. The points system would be simple because it would be an apples to apples comparison instead of the current system where GTs are mixed in with one day races and short stage races. They might not even give points to individual riders. Give points to teams as a whole.

Then they wouild start out with middle grade teams from around the world.

Yeah, I'm crazy.

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"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates