cfforum

Stage 4 - whaddya think - was it just too long? I know that in nice weather probably not, but they have been dodging this weather bullet for 3 years - it was bound to be ugly.

I guess February was the "open slot" in the calendar but this race would be so much better in May or September.

The weather was definitely an issue in terms of abandonments and suffering. But I don't think it changed the complection of the race - at least as far a the GC is concerned.

Aside from the abadonments, it was the sprinters who did not get an opportunity to battle for the stage win in SLO. Given the narrow left turn between 150 and 200 meters from the finish line, perhaps some skin and bike parts were saved by not having a sprint finish.

All-in-all, the best riders in the wold may not choose to make the trip to California in February forever due to the rain here which is, according to Tom Boonen, much colder than Belgium rain.

If the status of the ToC continues to improve, perhaps the opportunity to "bump" another race from the schedule in a more favorable month will become possible.

I can't help but believe that the ToC is doing some things correctly that the rest of the cycling world seems to be struggling with for no apparent reason other than organizational turf wars. The ToC this year is testing the full field before the start of the tour, then 30% of the field randomly each day along with any winners of points, time bonuses, and the stage winnner.

Of equal importance, any rider testing positive will be disqualified from the ToC, but the team will not. To me, this policy seems to address the doping issue without deterring the sponsor.

Word on the street is that when Discovery ended its sponsorship, the team management choose not to pursue another sponsor because they could not get guarantees from the controlling organizations that the team would not be disqualified from the grand tours based on the teams management and riders.

As you know, Astana is the virtual continuation of the Discovery team and Astana has been barred from the 2008 Tour de France. The controlling organizations made this decision after the Astana team was formed and riders contracted even though no additional negative information about the riders, the management, or the sponsor has come to light since the formation of the new team was announced.

I believe this will be of significant concern to other prospective team sponsors in the future. There has been ample discussion on this point over the last few years so I won't go into it at this here.

I can't help but wonder about the possible parallels between professional golf and the ProTour. In golf the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) used to be comprised of both teaching professionals and touring professionals. The money is clearly to be found out on the tour because that's where the sponsorship dollars exist. At some point the touring professionals broke off from the PGA to form the PGA Tour. The talent is in the PGA Tour and, consequently, televsion is there to sell advertising and the money follows.

After hearing that Cadel Evans suggested he might not compete in the 2008 Tour de France if his top rivals are not allowed to compete I couldn't help but wonder why the ProTour riders don't take their talent and form their own association. I understand that the the current schedule of races are controlled by those warring ogranizations and that they could bar a newly formed riders association from competing in their events (such as the grand tours and the classics), but what would the stature of those events be without the presense of the world's best riders?

I don't watch the races becase of who organized it, I watch races because of who the competitors are.

Let's say for example, that the TdF bans Astana, CSC, Quick Step, High Road and every other top team that's not French. Suppose those teams formed their own league and decided to ride the Tour of California (or Tour of the America's which might include stages in Canada and/or Mexico on alternating years) and do it in July to compete with the TdF? A Grand Tour in America? Why not?

Given that option, I'd definely tune in to watch the top teams rather than the TdF. The TdF is rich in history, but I can always revisit past glories; I want to see history in the making - where the best riders are, that's where I'll be tuned in.

Perhaps it's time for cycling to take a golf lesson.

I agree with everything you say - the analogy I use (probably too often) is the Indy 500. When CART and USAC were at war, USAC (then the ASO of Open-Wheel Racing in the US and the sanctioning body for the Indy 500 and several other major events) essentially took the position that the event was so big and the tradition so entrenched that they could use it as muscle to get whatever it wanted. What happened is, of course, a matter of record to those of us who love open-wheel racing. The ensuing battles and eventual split - IRL/CART, etc... took the sport down several notches and undid all the progress that had happened through the 70's and 80's. NASCAR lept into the breach and you can see the end result.

I love the Golf Analogy - and I think what you are saying would work. But it will take a formal declaration of war and a LOT of unity on the part of the riders to make it happen. This refusal to include Astana in ASO events is probably a potential catalyst to make something happen.

I enjoyed the TOC this year but felt like the weather detracted a great deal. I would not be surprised that the big names don't return next year and Amgen and AEG need to think very hard about moving the race - one thought is to compete with the Tour of Germany after the TDF. It's just a pity that there cannot be alpine stages in the TOC because the stuck it in February.

A grand tour in America is a wonderful idea - I have already decided that I'm not watching a TDF without Astana (not because I'm per-se a fan of Astana, but because the decision was unfair and makes the race less competitive). As a result I don't have any problem watching a grand tour in the US in July. I would start it earlier to take advantage of July 4th if possible, and probably concentrate it in the Western States because the weather would be a guarantee. Mexico, Canada Alaska and Hawaii would be awesome to include as well on occasion.

Anyways - the TOC has a wonderful organization - and if a guy like Ball can inspire some organization among the riders, and if the ASO continues to suffer from a Cranial-Rectal Insertion, then maybe this is the moment in history when the TDF became an after-thought on the calendar.