Empty Champs Elysées 2006?

Originally Posted by gelyk

Just spent the weekend in Paris to watch another Tour de France come to a close.

It seemed a bigger crowd than when I was there last and I suspect it had something to do with the 'Lance Fans'. I almost forget I was in Paris to be honest.

So what happens next year? Will the 'Lance Fans' be there to support cycling? Or is it just a case, and I suspect in many instances it might be, that now Lance is no longer competing then there is no point watching?

Let's hope that there are plenty of converts who will continue to support the tour and all the other great cycling races.

Originally Posted by mareblu

...We have to admit that the majority in Paris where Americans wanting to say good bye to their fellow heroe. He did bring a lot of excitement and a lot of new people to the cycling world...perhaps peple will go just to get a glance at this 7-TDF winner.

Originally Posted by BobHWS

I admire Lance as much as anyone and he has done a lot to increase the worldwide appeal of the sport in general and Le Tour in particular. But let's not forget that Le Tour has been around since 1903 and it has been attracting huge crowds throughout France and in Paris for most of the last 102 years and it will continue to do so without Lance next year.

Casual American fans will probably be less interested in the future (at least until the next American potential winner comes along ) but the French and other Europeans will probably be more interested next year, because the outcome will be more uncertain. Le Tour is bigger than Lance and bigger than Merckx, Anquetil, Hinault and Indurain too. Lance did not make Le Tour...au contraire, Le Tour made Lance.

Originally Posted by roundsquare1

If OLN doesn't broadcast or any other network broadcast the race than the average fan will lose interest...

Originally Posted by BobHWS

I believe that OLN has a contract to continue their coverage for a few more years. There's no guarantee that they will provide such wall-to-wall coverage as in the past few years, but the TDF has been good to OLN so I think they will try to make the best of it even without the benefit of having an American as the favorite to win. Also, people will in tune in just to see Phil, Paul, Bobke and Kirsten.

However, let's keep in mind that in the big scheme of things, OLN's viewership for the Tour is fairly modest:

( http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050726/ap_en_bu/cyc_tour_de_france_ratings/nc:786;_ylt=AhWfMJ6rSoTZDL3_qSPda9miMhkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMl JVRPUCUl )

This year, an average audience of 607,250 watched OLN's 23 days of live coverage of the Tour.

This is about half the audience of a summertime made-for-TV junk sports show such as "NFL Quarterback Challenge"

( http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tv...|sports,00.html )

On a global scale, the American audience for the Tour is literally a drop in the bucket:

The Tour de France is the world’s most popular cycling event. It has a worldwide TV audience of 2 billion viewers, is watched on 78 channels in 170 countries and merits 2,400 hours of dedicated TV coverage....

( http://www.globecast.com/_2004/_0_library/case_studies/Tour_de_France_2004.htm )

As you can see, Americans make up less than 1% of the total worldwide audience. Having said that though, there's no doubt that the Tour organizers are very eager to have US coverage of the Tour because of the sponsorship opportunities offered by the American market.

In addition, a lot of people don't have OLN. While on vacation back in NY I was hard pressed to find ANYONE that had it. I ended up having to listen to it on Eurosports.com.

Everyone that has cable has some sort of Discovery Corp channel.

In sum, my point is that the Tour has always been a BIG deal in France and in Europe. It is now a much bigger deal in the US and worldwide than it was 25-30 years ago, but with or without Lance and with or without American TV coverage, the Tour goes on and remains the single biggest annual sports event in the world.

Originally Posted by roundsquare1

Thanks, I didn't realize that.

In addition to the Tour, I would really love to conitue to view the other races like the sping clasics and the Giro.

I don't know if OLN is contracted those races as well.

The only way to get the US audience interested is to make it readily available to watch.

People can't say that Americans aren't interested in cycling, just look at the crowds that the US Pro, the SF Grand Prix and Tour of Georgia bring.

Originally Posted by lwedge

Bring back the DuPont..... Tour day Trump !



Don't forget about the Nevada City Classic....
http://www.ncclassic.com/

It looks like the Tour De\of California is going to happen as well.
http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/s.../17/story1.html

I would love to see another stage race in the US similar to the TdG.

I think the crowds at the Champs will remain the same. The US riders made a pretty good showing (so far) in the classics this year. Look for a good showing from Disco in the Vuelta.


LW