Why "Tour of California" Should Become a Grand Tour...

Vuelta a España

What was once a spring race that gave the likes of Merckx, Anquetil, Poulidor, Kelly, and Hinault a place to shine, is now filled with riders who weren't up to the TdF or are trying to make up for a failed Tour.

Of course we have great riders in Spain every fall, but it is the end of a horribly long season.  Many are going through the paces to get to Lombardy and or the Worlds.

The Vuelta is having financial issues, and Spanish riders who are coming off the Tour de France are not going to have a lot left for their own tour. Even Contador's win in 2008 was only due to his exclusion from the Tour. Even then his American teammate had the same elapsed time (Contador won on time bonuses). So...

Tour of California

In five short years the ToC has gone from a cool idea to a race that pulled many of the Giro's best riders to sunny California.

Gone are the winter rains (mostly) and low mountains, and in are sunny skies, high mountain stages and many of the best riders in the world.

The Toc is now on a playing field reserved for the likes of the Giro, Vuelta, and Tour de France.

Is it a grand tour quality race?

Yes, now it needs a place on the Pro Tour calender and an eventual GT designation.

How the ToC supplants the Vuelta...

The ToC has already proven its ability to put on a top quality stage race, with a few tweaks and another two weeks it is tailor made to be a third grand tour that teams, riders and fans want to be a part of...

Here are a few of the needed developments that would transition the ToC to GT

Make the non mountain top days easier for the sprinters and their teams. Give the likes of Cavandish, Ferrar, etc their days in the sun.

True mountain top finishes and another long time-trial over terrain more like the earlier additions in Solvang to give larger time gaps to the GC contenders.

This would make it a more tactical race, with desired effect on GC teams.

Bring in Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona as start/finish locations to make the race a more regional Tour. Do not pull a Coors Classic and spread the race over the western half of the country.

Finish in Los Angeles every year... The race needs an iconic local to race towards every year.

Be different than the other grand tours and mix in mountain stages, versus periods that stay in the mountains.

California has enough varied terrain to allow for flat sprinters stages followed by high mountains. Make it less predictable then the European tours.

When?

ToC could become a Grand Tour in 3-5 years if things are done correctly, and sooner if Europe's economy continues to crumble.

The UCI wants Cycling to be a global sport, and it is growing in Australia, the Americas and Asia. To grow beyond a Western Eurocentric sport, it needs a Grand Tour in another part of the world and the ToC is primed to be that race...