sjuguy

Given that TDF organizers held few in the UK last year, why not consider an opening stage or two in the U.S.? Organizers could easily create routes utilizing big east coast cities as starts or finishes (New York, Boston, Philly, DC...). Imagine a sprint finish at Times Square, would be fun to watch. This would be a great way to help build the cycling community in the U.S. Yes there would be some logistical issues, but nothing insurmountable. People travel between NY and Paris on a regular basis with time constraints. Add a rest day.

I do realize this will likely never happen, but it easily could if TDF race organizers, the UCI, etc found it compelling to try.

jimc101

Logistics would be a massive issue, moving all the teams, vehicles (the caravan is massive to what you see on TV), riders etc to ride 24 or 48 hrs later in France, add to that jet lag. Would the Police Nationale (the tour outriders) be allowed to operate in the US? would the other tour vehicles be legal on US roads (DOT certification?)

Having cycled out to watch the Tour as it came through Yorkshire this year, it was gone in a flash, you get a much better view on TV, we did get some road re-surfacing where the tour was going, for building community, where it went in the UK this year was pretty much the heart of the UK cycling area, for building the cycling community, bit to early to tell on that.

bbattle

I thought the stages in Yorkshire were FANTASTIC! HUGE crowds, all the villages totally pumped for the Tour. I loved the names of some of the hills. Butter Tubs was one of them, IIRC.

They should start the Tour in Britain every year.

sced

Not many folks in the US give a rat's a$$ about the TdF, including me. All the doping ended it for many of the few there ever was.

Bah Humbug

They'd never shut down Times Square for it. The vehicles would be allowed to drive (the hard part is legally selling/ registering them here, but it'd be no different from a car driving up from Mexico that isn't offered here, which happens all the time). Even shutting down stretches of highway to do this would create a huge public backlash. No way.

K.Katso

^ all of this.

They thought about doing the Giro prologue in the US a few years ago, and I don't think they could ever work out the logistics. Plus all the riders and teams complained about it anyway due to the difficulty of the travel. A better idea would be to continue raising the profile of the big American races. The ToC and USAPCC are pretty damned good races in their own right.

pdedes

No Concorde

sjuguy

For the record, I agree that the logistics would be by far the biggest hurdle. Tour of CA and USAPC are great, but don't have the same "brand recognition" as the TDF. Riders and teams will always complain about something different, or something that burdens them more than usual. I think the real problem is that there really isn't much incentive to expand any of the grand tours into other (relatively distant) countries.

jgrosser

Logistics would be a problem, but I think the jet lag would be a bigger problem. I do like the idea of a big race in NYC, though.

K.Katso

Seems like they could do a prologue of the USAPCC in other cities, and maybe skip a day between the prologue and Stage 1. That way they could do a stage in a place such as NYC and have time to get back to Colorado for the rest of the event.

cseaman

wtf is the point? what would you say if someone said we should move the super bowl to canada? come on. who cares. never gonna happen, not a realistic idea, stupid to talk about.

johnny99

Donald Trump used to organize a 2-week pro bicycle race around the eastern USA. Why not ask him to bring it back? That will probably be much simpler than bringing the Tour de France to the USA.

jimc101

The crowds may have been massive, but the organisation of the stewards left a lot to be desired, I was near Langsett on stage 2, and the stewards didn't have a clue what was going on, there were no comms about when the last riders were passed, and people were on the road going home before the last couple of riders were through.

From talking to others who were on Holme Moss, this was exactly the same there.

rangerdavid

it's not just a tour of the country of France anymore. Why not expand it???

Bob Dopolina 

There was talk, years ago, about stages in Montreal. Logistics killed it.

It would be like moving tge entire Olympics to a different country for two days only and then back again.

cafzali

Expenses would definitely be huge, but the real reason it's not done is because there's a big lack of interest. Quite simply, a relative few would come out and watch, which would make the expense useless. To give you some perspective, the organizer of Gran Fondo NY spends tens of thousands on police overtime on cops that help provide traffic control along the course. Granted, that's a 50+ mile course, whereas you could do something in a city like NY that's akin to a criterium-type loop, which would be lots less ground to cover.

But even if it's something that might have happened in the past, Lance screwed up the prospect of that forever in the minds of Americans. More than anybody else, he symbolizes a doping wave in cycling to Americans. Sure, lots of others have doped but nobody in America save for a relative few who follow pro cycling could tell you who those are. Yet, they remember Lance and all his baggage. No sponsor's going to line up to pay big money for that.

If pro cycling truly wants to clean up its act, the UCI will institute harsh penalties for even the first doping infraction. All this talk they're having needs to be backed by credible actions that will draw sponsors back. At the end of the day, the demographics of a typical pro cycling fan are very good and are ideal for a company selling an expensive, niche product. To me, it's insane that no one has been able to get a top-tier, reputable financial services firm to sponsor a team.

StanSeven

You've been training too hard my friend

DXchulo

Don't forget that the Worlds are in Richmond this year. In many ways that's better than a TDF stage coming here could ever be.

bt

because david lee roth

coasting 

Fifa held the football world cup in usa hoping it would launch interest in the sport. it doesn't work. i suspect cycling interest would not fair much better from having the tdf.

Leinster

FIFA definitely put the cart before the horse that time, but in fairness, soccer in the US has done nothing but grow since then. It's obviously debatable just how much credit goes to the 94 World Cup for that, especially when MLS didn't start for another 2 years after.

Bring the Tour to New York, and you'd get huge crowds. If London can close down the Mall for a stage, and Paris can close the Champs Elysees, NY can have a stage finish down Broadway or through Central Park. It's no more of a logistical problem than the Marathon.

The real problem is the transfer time. East coast to Europe is either an overnight flight, or a lost day, and neither of those makes for good race prep. The Giro had to have an early rest day transferring from Dublin to Southern Italy, with 1 hour time difference. NY to France is about 3 times that distance, and 6 time zones. That's the main reason it'll never happen, until the Trans-Atlantic travel times come waaaaay down or teleportation is invented.

sjuguy

The NFL could easily have the Superbowl in Canada.

roadie7

Several years ago, Giro De Italia officials and Washington, DC Mayor Felty, was discussing holding some stages in Washington, DC. Once Felty lost the election, the discussions died so I never heard what happened and why they died. I'm sure many of the issues people raised here they addressed in their discussions. There would have been a great deal of support for the stages here. I don't really think the Tour de France would hold stages here but it is certainly doable.

cashmonee

For the record, there is serious consideration by the NFL about holding the Super Bowl in London. So much so, that most NFL people believe it will happen sooner or later.

Part of the deal with FIFA to get the 94 World Cup was the creation of a professional league (MLS). For what it's worth, the MLS has easily become the most successful professional soccer league the US has had. It has attracted some decent players and led to some soccer specific stadiums being built, not to mention an actual financially viable pro league for the first time in the US. I think the 94 World Cup did bring increased interest to soccer here. Just look at the Pacific Northwest.

djb

logistical costs and especially the time diff jet lag....doesnt make sense with such an arduous 3 week race to submit the riders to the travel time and jet lag.