UCI thumbing nose to Grand Tours?

[badboyberty]

First the ToC gets to move into May while the Giro is on, and now Canadian ProTour classics are added to September during the Vuelta's timeslot. Is the UCI trying to tell RCS and Unipublic that that American dollars are more important than Euros, or is this just an unavoidable coincidence?

 

[saxe_coburg_gotha]

What do you expect, greedy, power hungary, corrupt based in Swizterland like most crooked tax avoiding bodies, charties etc etc .
Feck them long live the GRAND TOURS.

 

[ingsve]

Hmm, to even things out perhaps they should make Tour of Austria a ProTour race as well. That way all three grand tours have another PT race against it instead of giving special excemption to the Tour.

 

[Cerberus]

Hmm, to even things out perhaps they should make Tour of Austria a ProTour race as well. That way all three grand tours have another PT race against it instead of giving special excemption to the Tour.

I doubt that would hurt the Tour much. I don't whether this is true in all countries but in many countries the Tour is THE bike race. Anything alse is tertiary at best.

 

[Zen Master]

I doubt that would hurt the Tour much. I don't whether this is true in all countries but in many countries the Tour is THE bike race. Anything alse is tertiary at best.

Well, cycling is probably extra popular sport in that countries

 

[Franklin]

I think this is blown out of proportion. There are more than enough cyclists for a decent sized event besides a GT. I think it's a fine idea, especially if you have them at the other side of the pond.

I just can't see this as a bad thing. We can blame the UCI for a lot of things, but this is stretching it a bot.

 

[Cerberus]

Well, cycling is probably extra popular sport in that countries

You actually think the Tour will suffer from competition with the Tour af Austria? indeed.

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

And do you really think California will hurt the Giro, or the Canada races take riders away from the Vuelta?

Susan

 

[auscyclefan94]

And do you really think California will hurt the Giro, or the Canada races take riders away from the Vuelta?

Susan

You won't get levi or lance at the giro next year because they'll be at california. That'll hurt the giro. The canada races won't hurt the vuelta as the riders would most likely prefer go to spain as it is a renowned event.

 

[Anonymous]

You won't get levi or lance at the giro next year because they'll be at california. That'll hurt the giro. The canada races won't hurt the vuelta as the riders would most likely prefer go to spain as it is a renowned event.

lance and levi are hardly giro regulars though are they..?

i dont think it makes any odds.. for every nine riders a team puts into a gt there are another half dozen that are good enough, but dont get picked.. the quality of both the giro and the ToC will be just the same as ever..

 

[Eva Maria]

It is strange to have the Canadian races the week before the Worlds as well. Nothing like a 8 hour plane flight and jet lag to get ready for a big race

 

[usedtobefast]

here in california, may is a great time to ride. same with italy. february can be
sketchy, as they have found. it's all good.

 

[hfer07]

You won't get levi or lance at the giro next year because they'll be at california. That'll hurt the giro. The canada races won't hurt the vuelta as the riders would most likely prefer go to spain as it is a renowned event.

OK-Looks to me that you started paying attention the the Giro & the Vuelta a year ago-right?

 

[ladyvader]

here in california, may is a great time to ride. same with italy. february can be
sketchy, as they have found. it's all good.

TOC can't ride in the Sierra-Nevada in Feb. The move to May made sense to me. Now they can have much harder climbs.

 

[auscyclefan94]

OK-Looks to me that you started paying attention the the Giro & the Vuelta a year ago-right?

No. This years field was one of the strongest fields in the giro for a while. A lot more world wide attention was paid to the giro as LA was there and that Ivan Basso was back to a GT and Their were many guys who could win this race. That's why i think guys like Lance and Levi not being there will detract from the publicity of the race and the strength of the field.

 

[LugHugger]

Fanatatic, perhaps the Hick LoveShack will stay at home and we can enjoy GT cycling without a fantastical circus

 

[benpounder]

First the ToC gets to move into May...

IIRC, ASO is a large shareholder in Amgen ToCalifornia.

 

[marinoni]

No. This years field was one of the strongest fields in the giro for a while. A lot more world wide attention was paid to the giro as LA was there and that Ivan Basso was back to a GT and Their were many guys who could win this race. That's why i think guys like Lance and Levi not being there will detract from the publicity of the race and the strength of the field.

Yeah, I'm sure the press corps will really miss Armstrong and his classless silent treatment. Levi seems like a good guy but does anyone seriously think he can win a GT? As for the Vuelta, it's a big target in it's own right and ideal prep for the world's otherwise. Two races in Canada arent going to change that. That said, the Mt Royal course in Montreal is nasty and guarantees a quality winner. I don't know much about the Quebec City course but just experiencing the old quarter is plenty reason to check it out. I'll be there.

 

[red_flanders]

And do you really think California will hurt the Giro, or the Canada races take riders away from the Vuelta?
Susan

It may take what few riders US riders participate in the Giro.

Just seems unnecessary. There are other time slots.

 

[red_flanders]

TOC can't ride in the Sierra-Nevada in Feb. The move to May made sense to me. Now they can have much harder climbs.

The lack of climbing was as much a factor of the time of year as available terrain. They could have made that race a LOT harder than they did with the available terrain. For example, last year's Santa Cruz stage could have had 2 other categorized climbs (easily) and blown the race to pieces. It's just too much to have stages like that in February.

 

[Wrecktangle]

IIRC, ASO is a large shareholder in Amgen ToCalifornia.

I think this fact is critical. The Giro was indeed a threat to TdF this year in terms of talent and race excitement, ToC next year will surly dimish Giro with the 12 second cycling attention span of Americans. ASO would certainly like to undercut Giro as competition with TdF.

I'm very unhappy as we had the Giro on TV for the first time in years with USN here in the States, now back to 1 week of ToC and no Giro. USN won't pick it up, as it divides scarce American cycling eyeballs. Versus be damned.

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

ToC next year will surly dimish Giro with the 12 second cycling attention span of Americans.

There's a big difference between diminishing the status of the Giro and diminishing it with American fans.

Susan

 

[Sheltowee]

You won't get levi or lance at the giro next year because they'll be at california. That'll hurt the giro. The canada races won't hurt the vuelta as the riders would most likely prefer go to spain as it is a renowned event.

I think I saw it reported somewhere that Armstrong said he's doing the Giro

 

[Zen Master]

There's a big difference between diminishing the status of the Giro and diminishing it with American fans.

Susan

+1

I couldn't agree more

 

[auscyclefan94]

I think I saw it reported somewhere that Armstrong said he's doing the Giro

I thought he said he would do the ToC. He said on a video on his website with Levi that he'll be going to Califronia to defend Levi's title. Could be wrong but i think he will do Calafornia being his home nations race.