Good point, Stani, but the next day (San Jose to Modesto stage) there were tons of people out on the road in Livermore for the sprint point, or up on Patterson Pass, or at the finish. Most of these people took a couple hours off of work, or left early to watch the stage finish, etc... Having worked for a French company for 4+ years, I know that most Europeans have no aversion to finding an excuse to spectate/party/cheer/etc... a bike race, football match, whatever. So I was a little dismayed to see how few people came to watch the finish of a major race.
Examples:
Modesto on a Tuesday afternoon - people 4 or 5 deep:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2...lifornia09/california093/JD_09TOCstg3_hushovd
Finish in Clovis on a Wednesday:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2...fornia09/california094/JD_09TOCstg4_cavendish
Just saying that perhaps the ToC is generating more excitement - maybe the sponsors are requesting the teams send more high-level or big name riders to the event as it seems to get a lot of attention? For the "historic" race that P-N is, I would certainly have expected to see more people along the finish...