Which races should be in the World Tour?

[Sophistic]

To further spin the discussion in the Paris-Tours thread, which races should have World Tour status in your opinion.
I'm a minimalist:

3 GTs
5 Monuments
GWG, AGR, FW, P-N, T-A, TDS, Dauph, CSS, P-T, P-Brux

 

[Anonymous]

Either, every race in the calendar, or none of them.

 

[AussieGoddess]

I do actually like some of the 'lesser' races being part of the world tour .... but they have the points ranking so incredibly wrong.

If they just tweaked that a bit (ok - well a lot ) then it would be good

 

[ingsve]

I think the World Tour should contain:

Milan - San Remo
Ronde Van Vlaanderen
Paris - Roubaix
Amstel Gold Race
Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Clasica San Sebastian
Vattenfall Cyclassics
GP de Montreal
Paris-Tours
Giro de Lombardia

And nothing else. If they move Montepaschi Strade Bianche to the fall then that could take the place of Vattenfall Cyclassic I think.

 

[Cult Classics]

I liked the old system better with world rankings and a world cup.

Having a bit of a series for the one-day races is good in my opinion as it helps create somewhat of a 'story' to keep track of - it's the ongoing story that gives the stage races the better viewing figures/followings and that's what helps to build the fanbase. The 10-race world cup with a leader's jersey was quite cool.

As for everything else, I much preferred just having races with rankings. Higher rank = more points. Rolling 12-month basis and riders get world rankings accordingly.

I must say the Omloop for me marks the start of cycling season proper, so if there is a world tour i'd like to see that go in. But it won't happen.

 

[LukeSchmid]

I think the World Tour should contain:

Milan - San Remo
Ronde Van Vlaanderen
Paris - Roubaix
Amstel Gold Race
Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Clasica San Sebastian
Vattenfall Cyclassics
GP de Montreal
Paris-Tours
Giro de Lombardia

And nothing else. If they move Montepaschi Strade Bianche to the fall then that could take the place of Vattenfall Cyclassic I think.

No stage races. Not sure about that.

 

[cineteq]

Just le TdF, nothing else matters

 

[Midnightfright]

It would take along time for me to work out excatly how I would like the world tour calander set up but of the races not currently World Tour I would like to see Omloop put in.

 

[ingsve]

No stage races. Not sure about that.

If you didn't notice it my suggestion is to bring back the old World Cup.

 

[AussieGoddess]

I think the World Tour should contain:

Milan - San Remo
Ronde Van Vlaanderen
Paris - Roubaix
Amstel Gold Race
Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Clasica San Sebastian
Vattenfall Cyclassics
GP de Montreal
Paris-Tours
Giro de Lombardia

And nothing else. If they move Montepaschi Strade Bianche to the fall then that could take the place of Vattenfall Cyclassic I think.

and no Fleche Wallone ?????

 

[ansimi]

To me, the World Tour seems to aim for McDonalds-style globalization with races and teams looking like generic franchises.

I much prefer events with local character. If a race has a great route, strong organization, and crowd support then it will be successful and prestigious...at least until the UCI forces teams to be somewhere else at the same time to chase points

 

[boomcie]

I think the World Tour should contain:

Milan - San Remo
Ronde Van Vlaanderen
Paris - Roubaix
Amstel Gold Race
Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Clasica San Sebastian
Vattenfall Cyclassics
GP de Montreal
Paris-Tours
Giro de Lombardia

And nothing else. If they move Montepaschi Strade Bianche to the fall then that could take the place of Vattenfall Cyclassic I think.

Very nice list ingsve. Reminiscent of the World Cup. Would like to ditch Vattenfall too though.

 

[ingsve]

and no Fleche Wallone ?????

No, Fleche Wallone was never in the World Cup, it was just a race in between AGR and LBL just like G-W was a race on the Wednesday in between RVV and P-R. It would be too many races in the spring if FW was part of the World Cup so they usually had 5 races in the spring and 5 races in the fall.

 

[patterson_hood]

Anyone else get the feeling this thread will turn into an "any race outside Europe is rubbish" thread?

 

[Cult Classics]

No, Fleche Wallone was never in the World Cup, it was just a race in between AGR and LBL just like G-W was a race on the Wednesday in between RVV and P-R. It would be too many races in the spring if FW was part of the World Cup so they usually had 5 races in the spring and 5 races in the fall.

Always find Fleche a bit disappointing. Just ends up being a sprint up the hill almost every time. Amstel too. Always makes me appreciate Liege and how the monuments just have that added something extra.

I don't think all races outside Europe are rubbish. Just many of them. It's not even Europe to be honest, specifically 'old cycling Europe'. I don't like Hamburg, I don't like Poland etc etc. What I will say though is you get great crowds on the races in Canada and America, the worlds in Australia and Denmark too, and on that Olympic test route in Britain. Sad to say it but many top European bike races (especially in Spain and Italy) play to crowds of a size more resembling those levels seen in China.

 

[luckyboy]

I think seeing the World Cup come back would be good, but that isn't going to happen. Just revising the points system so that it isn't so weird (e.g. winning TDU doesn't = 3rd in the Giro (?) ) would be good though.

Anyone else get the feeling this thread will turn into an "any race outside Europe is rubbish" thread?

Well there's the Colombian calendar which I haven't seen a lot of but what I've seen has been good racing.
California improved this year, and Colorado has promise in future (was terribly boring in some parts this year).

What other races are there? TDU, Beijing, Qatar, Oman are the ones that spring to mind. Too flat = boring. Langkawi hasn't been that good from what I've seen.

 

[patterson_hood]

I think seeing the World Cup come back would be good, but that isn't going to happen. Just revising the points system so that it isn't so weird (e.g. winning TDU doesn't = 3rd in the Giro (?) ) would be good though.



Well there's the Colombian calendar which I haven't seen a lot of but what I've seen has been good racing.
California improved this year, and Colorado has promise in future (was terribly boring in some parts this year).

What other races are there? TDU, Beijing, Qatar, Oman are the ones that spring to mind. Too flat = boring. Langkawi hasn't been that good from what I've seen.

There are quite a few races in America and Canada as well. Cycling needs to grow, teams like HTC should be able to attract a sponsor and I think the Mergers that are happening are again because of money issues. They may be flat and boring but they still attract crowds and that's always good. They also need th top riders there or people won't go to see them. I prefer the older European races, they have more character, more fans and mean more to the racers, but it would be silly to eliminate all other races from the World Tour.

 

[luckyboy]

Oh yeah the Canadian races have been good the past two years.

 

[Fetisoff]

I guess the ultimate question is what do we want the world tour to be?
I mean right now it's sort of stuck in between, and seems to be more of a political tool, than a cycling competition. I mean, even the UCI sporting criteria is not based on the world tour points, but rather their own "CQ-like" scoring system.

If we want the World Tour Champion to be the true champion of the world, well then you have to get rid of a lot of European races that are currently on it (sorry, Catalunya, Vattenfals etc), keep the Canadian races, maybe include a US stage race, and at least one South American stage race.

I mean, there's no simple answer. Maybe ditch the world tour completely and have separate competitions for 1-day races, have Grand Tours as their own entities, and a separate competition for 1 week races....

 

[Kvinto]

You will never create a WT wich fills your criteria "the World Tour Champion to be the true champion of the world", it's a delusion. I can't remember who won the WT last year but can easily remind the winner of each monument in the last 5 years. That's how it works and you can't change it. I see the only purpose of the WT - the promotion of cycling on the new markets (like China this year) everything else would inevitably become a semi-finished product.

 

[boomcie]

You will never create a WT wich fills your criteria "the World Tour Champion to be the true champion of the world", it's a delusion. I can't remember who won the WT last year but can easily remind the winner of each monument in the last 5 years. That's how it works and you can't change it. I see the only purpose of the WT - the promotion of cycling on the new markets (like China this year) everything else would inevitably become a semi-finished product.

I can assure you that the World Cup had great value when it was still around.

 

[Kvinto]

I can assure you that the World Cup had great value when it was still around.

There is one very important difference - World Cup was a competition for one-day races, World Tour is the combination of the classics, GTs and week long tours. The winner of the WC was much more the best classic rider of the season than the winner of the WT is the best rider of the season at all.

 

[Cult Classics]

you have to get rid of a lot of European races that are currently on it (sorry, Catalunya, Vattenfals etc

Woah... you know Catalunya is the 3rd oldest stage race there is, after the Tour and Giro? Still gets a decent field too, Contador winning it this year.

 

[Kvinto]

Woah... you know Catalunya is the 3rd oldest stage race there is, after the Tour and Giro? Still gets a decent field too, Contador winning it this year.

this year's Catalunya was the worst edition of this beautiful race in years

 

[boomcie]

There is one very important difference - World Cup was a competition for one-day races, World Tour is the combination of the classics, GTs and week long tours. The winner of the WC was much more the best classic rider of the season than the winner of the WT is the best rider of the season at all.

Obviously.

But some of us were starting a plea to bring the World Cup back. The World Tour is a lousy 'replacement'.

Just saying that a year long competition can be very prestigious, something you were apparently contesting.