netso

I was wondering, why not a TOUR OF AMERICA? Are we not as good as the French? Why not? It seems like it would be succesful?

Maelstrom 

Is there the elevation (seriously I don't really know)? Popularity? Money? One thing I like about the tour is the towns and character, I dont find it appealing to watch north american cycling. In europe they take the sport seriously, I doubt there would be enough money/popularity to make it worth anyones while. Including the riders.

slvoid

The riders, yes.
The public? No.

Most people don't give a damn in this country.

TheDTrain

Yeah, cycling is frowned upon here.
Look, we even tearing apart Lance Armstrong, and he should be a national hero!

Travelinguyrt

Sport culture in America mandates overweight types;
the slender jocks really get no respect, plus beer commercials pay the frieght, doubt there can be much interest generated by thin guys riding skinny bikes

DieselDan

I guess the Race Across America is a Hollywood production done on the same soundstage as the moon landings and 9/11.

slvoid

RAAM gets nowhere near the coverage of any tour in europe.
Plus you don't get any kind of peleton, the most you'll ever have is like 1-2 people going by every couple of hours.

JavaMan

If there WAS a Tour of America, it would probably be televised only on Eurosport!

Speed_Racer

If America wanted to create a tour in America RAAM is not the way to do it. France has 545,630 sq km land area vs USA 9,161,923 sq km. So for a tour to be successful in America they would have to limit the race sq km to 1 state or something. The person that sleeps the least in RAAM wins. Tour de France goes in stages allowing the riders to get rest.

bkrownd

It's called "NASCAR".

Urban Shooter

There is a Tour of America, it is broadcast each year on ESPN 8, the Ocho.

taylor8

I hear rummors of a Tour de California in the works. I hope so, I saw a proposed route with stage 1 from Sacramento to Lake Taho a killer climb in anyones book. Supposed to be held sometime in the spring. You pick the year.

If a tour in the US works anywhere it would be in California the weather is right for a spring race and there are lots of bicycle riders here.

If there is a big enough purse then some of the Euro racers would come over.

But alas I fear that bike racing is like soccer here it just never going to hit the big time. Why, NFL, NASCAR, NBA, NHL, NCAA, MLB, etc. It seems like all our "sports" seasons last for ever. There is just never a time of year when there is no major made for TV sport going on, YUCK! And you don't have to be 6 ft 19 weigh 300 lbs and jump like a jack rabbit to ride a bike, you just have to be about normal size. Track a Field can't even draw a crowd here.

Joe

jbonus

Everyone relax. We have eating contests, remember?

Cromulent

Well there was the Tour of Georgia. That was pretty cool.

A Tour of America would be a tough sell 'cause we're kinda big. But I don't know why they won't try it. I mean, if someone can put money into a disturbing reality show called "Who's Your Daddy?", they could organize, promote, and find sponsors for a Tour of the West Coast, or the East Coast.

People will watch pretty much anything... bass riding and bull fishing and the like... why not a multi-stage bike race? Is the core audience for Strongman Competitions really that much larger than the core audience for the TdF?

Put the Pro Tour guys and a few domestic teams together and let 'em have at it. Part of the problem is making it interesting for television... as long as Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin call it. I'd proabably watch bass fishing if Phil and Paul called it.

There used to be a bike race sponsored by Coors, right?

gurana

I think you are grossly misjudging the kind of intellectual swill the majority of the american public considers entertainment . . . or is it the Networks merely pandering to the LCD? In any case, it doesn't cost too much for a network to create a show called "Who's Your Daddy?" and get sponsors. People presumably watch it. I don't really watch that kind of stuff, but I swear to you people even talk about it enthusiastically. Organizing a tour of america would probably cost a lot more.

That said, I don't think that our size should be an issue, should some benevolent network CEO give the greenlight on this. The stages wouldn't have to be contiguous, and 20 stages is more than enough to cover a good majority of the different areas the US has to offer. I can imagine 5 stages spanning the East coast, 5 stages spanning the south, 5 for the west coast, and 5 for the north rounding back towards DC where they can finish with 200 laps around the washington monument. They'd have to be fairly spread out in comparison to the TDF, but I think it's at the least feasible.

To me, the biggest hurdle would be securing roads to do this on. I don't know how they go about this in France, but interstate roads that are good enough for a large scale tour would be difficult to secure, I'd imagine; especially if they take you near or into a major city. To do that kind of thing, to shut down a road like that, implies to me a willingness on the part of the people that live in those areas. It's a big deal to have the TDF come through your city/town in France. I doubt that Americans would be so welcoming. I'm sure we have at least 20 sections of road capable of handling a tour of this scale, but they're all in bumblebrush, TN or the like.

timhines

I wish the tour de georgia was called "tour de Southeast USA." THere are so many great climbs in eastern TN, Western NC, North Georgia, and the like. Stretch out part of it to include some rolling hills and flat lands and you would have yourself a race.

Till then, i'll just have to go to Brasstown Bald and watch the TdG!