Spring Classic in England?

[Gigs_98]

Re: Re:

Trouble is you just cannot create a "classic" overnight.
...
You cannot buy history and you cannot buy prestige.

True but Strade Bianche has become a notable race in a short period of time - there was a good Inner Ring post on it last week: http://inrng.com/2016/03/strade-bianche-recipe/ - conclusions were:

• exploit the local geography and use local features. A race on ordinary roads means an ordinary race
• borrow from the local history. The finish in the hilltop town Siena can be mimicked by arrivals next to local landmarks
• organic growth that builds on existing events helps and patience is required to make it work, a three year plan is not long enough
• why not start with a popular mass participation event? If the course is challenging and people travel to take part then the chances are it builds the foundation for a durable pro race
• Add a women‘s race. The Strade Bianche is for men and women and perhaps the UCI should be admitting new events to the World Tour after asking what they’re doing for women’s cycling?

In my opinion that article is pretty bad, because they miss one gigantic point: The race is simply fun to watch.
Of course other factors are important too, and its definitely nothing negative for the race that its finish area is so scenic and historically important, but what made strade bianche such a success is that the race is entertaining and unique. That will definitely be harder to achieve for a british race since the cobbled climbs in yorkshire are mostly like the climbs of the ronde and simple steep ramps will cause a race which is alike the ardenne classics, but still if they design a route in britain which causes entertaining races, the race will become popular. Imo it's simple as that.

 

[May0maniac]

Another important factor is finding the right time to hold the race. Theree are already many races durning the spring, so for a british one day race it could be better to take place shortly before/after the Tour of Britain, when a decent amount of big names is already on british soil, or the Eneco Tour, the guys who do well in the Eneco Tour would probably also be the favourites on this kind of terrain.