Tour of America Plans Progressing
The Tour of America was announced at Interbike this year, and as TheRoadBike.com reported, it was less than a successful initial press conference. There were all sorts of problems with the Tour such as poorly organized routes, too many stages, too many miles, not enough sponsors, etc. During that press conference, the Tour director, Frank Arokiasami told reporters that he would have most of the $30 million in sponsorship money shored up by the end of October. Today is November 5th, so it was time to check in with Frank to see what was going on. I corresponded with Mr. Arokiasami this morning, and the information that he gave me was generally encouraging.
Sponsorships
Let’s get right down to business. Without sponsors in place the Tour of America is a bust. Mr. Arokiasami assures me that these sponsorships are in the works. He hopes to divulge a list of the sponsors before the end of the year. Looks like they missed the end of October date, but things seem to be progressing.
Route
The route distance and number of stages has been changed. The race was originally scheduled to be 28 stages and close to 5000 miles long. This would have put it outside of the UCI standards, so the race would never have been able to be sanctioned by the cycling governing body. Without sanction, none of the top teams would be able to compete.
Mr. Arokiasami assures me that the race has now been whittled down to 21 stages and 3000 miles. This is in the range of the other three Grand Tours. It is evident that Aqu Sports has listened to the criticism that the race was too long. We here at TheRoadBike.com would have like to see it organized as a 14 stage race, but at least they pulled it into normal bike race parameters.
The new route can be found at thetourofamerica.com
We were also pleased that the Tour now goes through the mountains of Colorado. It would have been strange to have an inaugural event skip the mecca of road bike climbing. The race also goes through my old stomping grounds of Lawrence, Kansas. Lawrence has a great cycling scene, and it would be great to see them rewarded with a stage finish.
Teams?
All of the major teams have been contacted as of last week. Mr. Arokiasami assures me that the responses from the teams has been encouraging. I am sure that the teams will be very excited to compete for $11 million in prize money…..that is if the race gets sanctioned first.
Television Deals
All the standard networks who have a history in broadcasting cycling events have been contacted about the possibility of a T.V. deal. Talks have started with Versus, WCSN, and IBN. The option will be given to the major networks in the near future.
TheRoadBike.com’s Take on the Current Progress
I sat in the original press conference, and I was personally embarrassed for Aqu Sports and Frank Arokiasami. No work had been done, and it was all just a poorly thought out dream. It was like watching a oral book report being given by someone who never read the book.
Today, it seems that work is being done. I am not totally blown away with the details that have been hammered out so far, but at least work is being done. Mr. Arokiasami is working full time to make sure that this race happens. It seems that he is listening to the critics, at least a little bit, and details are becoming clearer. I will still be a skeptic until I see the list of sponsors. I believe that Mr. Arokiasami is overly optimistic about the amount of corporate money that will be available. We are in the beginnings of a recession, a presidential election year, and asking for money in a tarnished sport. $30 million is asking alot, so until corporate names are named, skepticism is warranted. My guess is that 2009 would be the more likely inaugural race. I hope Mr. Arokiasami can prove me wrong.
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