Re:
This makes a certain amount of sense. If they do move area though, it will mean having to do an awful lot of preparatory work to get the same sort of big crowds.
Although, in a way that's an opportunity too. The race organisers really did a great job turning a brand new race in a part of the sport that generally gets far too little attention into a big deal in the locality. If they can repeat that over and over again in new places it would be a big step forward. Whatever about pros and cons of the route, even taking into account their relatively high budget a lot of other organisers could learn a lot from their success.
Libertine Seguros said:I've heard from sources connected to the race that actually they did have some other places willing to host, but they kept it this way for two reasons - firstly that they were happy to keep it as a slightly rolling race at this point - keep the time gaps small and mean that each stage meant something, so each finishing town would get some part of the race GC playing out for them. After all, in 3 of the 5 stages the catch was made inside the final kilometre, and at least the ELB break was NOT planned out that way, they caught her 150m from the line - so it offered excitement for the live fans. The second was that the race director said this year they aimed to use a lot of the towns that supported them in getting the race off the ground and that it's important to understand that unlike the men's race this isn't broadcasting itself as the Tour OF Britain, but as a women's Tour IN Britain; much like the Tour de l'Aude used to be based mainly out of Limoux and the Emakumeen Euskal Bira is based mainly out of Iurreta and Durango, they were thinking for logistical purposes and making it easier for the teams to budget in the more cash-strapped world of women's cycling, to keep it a Tour spending its 5 days in an area, and then move that area from year to year rather than try to cover all of Britain with 5 days, which would be impossible especially on the shorter distances seen in women's cycling.
This makes a certain amount of sense. If they do move area though, it will mean having to do an awful lot of preparatory work to get the same sort of big crowds.
Although, in a way that's an opportunity too. The race organisers really did a great job turning a brand new race in a part of the sport that generally gets far too little attention into a big deal in the locality. If they can repeat that over and over again in new places it would be a big step forward. Whatever about pros and cons of the route, even taking into account their relatively high budget a lot of other organisers could learn a lot from their success.