Tour of California 2006



PanFan wrote:
> I just about choked on my oatmeal when I read that. February? What

the heck
> are they thinking?
> -- Jim, Fuming in California


Jimbo,
First, why the hell are you eating oatmeal? Steak & Eggs are the
breakfast of champions. Now, let's get to the meat here: There will be
no Tour "de" California. Just some promoter flexing muscles, getting
press and hoping some gullible sponsors will write him a check...which
they won't...because he can't guarantee Lance will show up...and that's
all they want because that's all they know about bike racing. If
Tailwind & Threshold were involved then you might have a chance at
pulling off something. They're not so they won't. Now wipe that *****
off your chin.
-DA74
 
first week of October????

Then we have the World's to compete with. Many of the top pros "blow
off" the World Championship because the season is to long. Do you
think that they may come to California instead?
 
Mike Jacoubowsky <[email protected]> wrote:
> Trouble is, you're not going to get major European teams to come to the US,
> particularly the west coast (with a, what, 9-hour time differential?) in
> June. You could put on a fantastic national event in June, but I can't see
> anything later than April attracting much Euro talent.


Exactly.

<geezerhead>
We have been there are done that. Or rather Michael Aisner has
been there and done that. The Coors Classic was a great national
event but could never consistently draw talent from Europe
across that many time zones.
</geezerhead>

Even though that was a long time ago it still represents a
major obstacle.

Bob Schwartz
[email protected]
 
On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 17:34:35 GMT, PanFan <[email protected]> wrote:


> I think the first week of October is ideal.


For a big bike race in the US? No.

JT

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On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 13:59:28 -0800, Mark wrote:

> first week of October????
>
> Then we have the World's to compete with. Many of the top pros "blow
> off" the World Championship because the season is to long. Do you
> think that they may come to California instead?


Screw the UCI and the top pros. California's got the geography to be a
great tour race. Make the race as good as it can be first, and after a few
years of establishing itself, the UCI might have to come to us if enough
notoriety is built up (e.g., TV coverage, advertising, sponsors, etc).

A dry season tour is California's only hope. If you do it in February
it'll be a soggy mess in ho-hum boring terrain. So then why bother?

-- Jim, Fuming in California
 
"PanFan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:p[email protected]...
> On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 13:59:28 -0800, Mark wrote:
>
> > first week of October????
> >
> > Then we have the World's to compete with. Many of the top pros "blow
> > off" the World Championship because the season is to long. Do you
> > think that they may come to California instead?

>
> Screw the UCI and the top pros. California's got the geography to be a
> great tour race. Make the race as good as it can be first, and after a few
> years of establishing itself, the UCI might have to come to us if enough
> notoriety is built up (e.g., TV coverage, advertising, sponsors, etc).
>
> A dry season tour is California's only hope. If you do it in February
> it'll be a soggy mess in ho-hum boring terrain. So then why bother?
>
> -- Jim, Fuming in California


Malaysia (Tour de Langkawi) has good geography and certaily a good enough
prize list, but they still have second and third tier riders.
 
PanFan wrote:

> February? What the heck are they thinking? Everyone who lives in
> California knows that's the peak of the rainy season and when
> El Nino is in town, that's when the mudslides and floods happen.
>
> To make the Tour of California a spectacular event, it is obvious
> you have to have it during the dry season so that stages can
> showcase California's beautiful mountain passes.


A race in California can have mountains without going over Sierra
passes. An early season race doesn't need to have 2500 meter climbs
necessarily. And if you think February in California is cold and
crappy, it still looks pretty decent for riding compared to February
in northern Europe, or the east coast for that matter. That's one
bit of leverage for getting people to ride it.

They could send it over Mt Hamilton (of course the observatory would
have to get a cut). I have difficulty imagining San Antonio Valley
Road lined with cheering spectators, but at least it might be possible
to do a rolling enclosure if the local authorities are on board.
 

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