A poll about a poll

[armstrong4ever]

They have invited Team NetApp in order to promote Tour of California in Germany, and make the event more international.

Cancellera, Schlecks, Armstrong, Leipheimer, Basso, Cavendish... will all ride in California this year

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Pearl Harbor had bigger stars in it than π. Doesn't make Pearl Harbor a better movie.

 

[armstrong4ever]

Pearl Harbor had bigger stars in it than π. Doesn't make Pearl Harbor a better movie.

The big stars are always in the big movies, so it's no coincidence that big stars prefer California.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The big stars are always in the big movies, so it's no coincidence that big stars prefer California.

And the big movies are also the ones that are most likely to bomb at the box office.

Mark Cavendish sounded REALLY enthusiastic about being told he had to do California instead of the Giro last year. REALLY.

The Tour of California reminds me of the Gulf States, the Qatar World Cup bid and the F1 events. The rich are VERY rich, the poor are very poor. The Tour of California has a handful of the biggest stars in the sport... but underneath that half-dozen big teams, half the race is made up of US domestic pros and small teams. The Giro has fewer of the biggest individuals in the sport, but it has 22 of the biggest teams.

 

[Mellow Velo]

The big stars are always in the big movies, so it's no coincidence that big stars prefer California.

Big stars in bad movies is a recipe for box office disasters.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/lack-of-funding-forces-gila-off-the-uci-calendar
62-7 and counting.

 

[Angliru]

Numbers don't lie. Tour of California is bigger than Paris-Nice and many other stage races on the World Tour. For example you can view on the front page of CyclingNews: "Team NetApp to ride Amgen Tour of California". Only the Giro and Tour get as much attention.

The poll also confirms I have been right all the time - Tour of California is the future... You can't ignore it anymore

But I agree that the race could've been better. Big Bear was not good.

What numbers are you referring to? How can anyone use a poll of anonymous sources to guage the importance of an event? If someone were to poll the riders on the Pro Tour teams, I'm quite certain they wouldn't give ToC the degree of importance that you claim it possesses.

 

[khardung la]

I am going to be happy when ToC goes low and they stop the hype....Hopefully they will have some good races somewhere else in the USA, but all that bull**** about ToC has made the race very antipathic to me.

It was dead boring the last 2 years, and for me it was strange that Eurosport broadcasted that thing. Those big cyclists go there because of sponsorship interests, that is it. Many brands are interested in showing theirselves there, and the USA is a big market. But if we are talking strictly about racing ToC is ashaming. The Tour of Hype, where every hill is the alpe D' Huez....

(like if the Alpe D' huez would be that hard BTW...I am counting in Altimetrias.com around 65 mountains that are harder than Alpe on the 3 big tours....)