why can't the US support a multistage bicycle race

Factual Questions
1

[emerges from years of lurking]

France of course has a famous one. Italy has one, Spain has one. Heck, even Australia has one.

Why can’t the US sustain a multistage bicycle race? The Tour de France has been getting a ton of publicity, and it includes American competitors such as Armstrong and Hamilton (he of the broken collarbone) with compelling stories.

I can’t understand why in an era where ladies professional bowling can sustain a national tour with coverage on ESPN, noone has been able to revive the old Tour DuPont/Tour du Trump event.

2

Because, statistically speaking, no one in the U.S. gives a flying fig about bicycle racing.

3

You mean like these?

http://www.ridetherockies.com/

http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/

http://www.cascade-classic.org/

4

no, I in particular DON’T mean any of those. I’m talking about a high-profile professional event that attracts TV coverage and makes the sports pages of most major metropolitan newspapers.

5

good idea. I think the problem is that a major tv network hasn’t gotten in the act. What if…instead of paying a zillion dollars for the coverage rights to a existing sport (baseball/nascar), a tv network decided to spend a fraction of that money on a sport that it could own forever. I’m thinking of the NBC tour de USA, a fall event timed to compete with NFL on FOX for a fraction of the cost. They would not have to pull in NFL ratings, they just need to be more profitable!