Tour of CO 2015

[montanaskier]

Going against the Vuelta is an issue for big names....

Today should have finished on LP, but that isn't a city or area that can pay money for coverage. Racing in the US is what it is.

[uglymoney]

Yeah I get that. We have a TIVO now and it helps a ton but we don't have Universal (who does?). I am just a casual fan but my wife has an encyclopedic knowledge base of these guys from reading up on them all year and so that really helps. Without her I'd be lost and it wouldn't be half as interesting. Kind of like baseball can seem boring to people who don't know the players and the game.

[Garth Bimble]

FWIW, Sling offers an add-on to it's standard $20 package that includes Universal. Not really worth it, IMHO.

[The SnowShow]

Going against the Vuelta is an issue for big names....

Today should have finished on LP, but that isn't a city or area that can pay money for coverage. Racing in the US is what it is.

Agree - there's no room on top of LP for all those VIP tents

[uglymoney]

A flashback to last year. My picture of the now retired Matt Cooke on Kebler Pass during a thunderstorm. I love this guy and his anti doping rants. His twitter feed is great and insightful. https://twitter.com/matthewlcooke?lang=en

[The SnowShow]

Just saw Bill Walton is riding with Carmichael...haha

[grskier]

todays coverage is pretty cool.. great shots of the pass.

[The SnowShow]

Amazing day on Indy. Perfect bluebird and not too windy; only wildfire haze. Hiked south towards Grizzly (the couloir looks nice still) and joined the party when the riders came through.

[The SnowShow]

Watching the TdF is making me sad the Pro Challenge isn't happening this year. Sucks, considering it was the largest sporting event in Colorado. Has anyone heard news of its future?

[ZomblibulaX]

Race organizers are still pushing hard for 2017. They were out at Tour of California working potential sponsors. Sure hope it comes together, its a great event and the crowds are fantastic, even in the smaller towns. I think the nature of Colorado's tourism industry brings out the best in the locals when big events come through town: everybody knows the hotels are full, but its velotourists looking to party, instead of fat baptists looking for class 1 wetwater rafting.

[Garth Bimble]

Watching the TdF is making me sad the Pro Challenge isn't happening this year. Sucks, considering it was the largest sporting event in Colorado. Has anyone heard news of its future?

I hope it comes back as well but it's kind of hard to attract sponsors when much of the TV coverage includes Phil/Paul babbling on and on over shots of the finish area when it should be on the race but isn't because the aircraft needed to relay the camera signals back to the ground can't fly due to weather. I see no way to fix that at this point, unless you can reschedule it to a time of year when the afternoon T-storms aren't as prevalent.

[Dee Hubbs]

One of the big issues this event has struggled with is shitty coverage when they go over the higher passes and the weather wreaks havoc with the signals. Seemed like most of the stages last year experienced problems and while I enjoy listening to Phil/Paul as much as the next guy I can only take so much and watching a bunch of people mill around the base of a ski resort in the middle of August doesn't exactly make for scintillating TV.

Agreed 100 percent. The technology and process to get a strong TV signal back to the production trucks is difficult and expensive. This article http://cyclingtips.com/2016/06/eyes-...-to-the-world/ is a great explanation of what it takes for the Tour de France.
If I was a major sponsor of Tour of Colorado and turned on the live feed, only to see the static camera of the finish line, I would have to twice about the money I just spent, and worry about having to explain the return on investment to my company's CFO.

I hope of the return to Colorado, and some good Pro Teams again.

[The SnowShow]

I always thought they should run the races earlier in the day, to avoid t-storms. I never thought it was a great idea to have the riders coming over Indy Pass at 3:30 with thousands of spectators up there. Run it earlier and you won't have the weather issues and it'll be safer.

Also, schedule it so it doesn't overlap with other more prominent Grand Tour races. It was the same time as the Vuelta so many pros obviously couldn't come here to race.

[uglymoney]

They need to figure out a way to sell VIP tickets or something. I'd hand over a twenty and I am sure many other people would as well. We used the tour ad an excuse to come to Colorado. Camped outside of CB and walked down to the race. Boulder. Monarch Pass. So...much...fun.

[grskier]

They need to figure out a way to sell VIP tickets or something. I'd hand over a twenty and I am sure many other people would as well. We used the tour ad an excuse to come to Colorado. Camped outside of CB and walked down to the race. Boulder. Monarch Pass. So...much...fun.

VIP is already a thing there.. and it's way more than $20.. or was I should say.

RoI is hard to show for these types of sponsorship's in the US.

[Garth Bimble]

Agreed 100 percent. The technology and process to get a strong TV signal back to the production trucks is difficult and expensive. This article http://cyclingtips.com/2016/06/eyes-...-to-the-world/ is a great explanation of what it takes for the Tour de France.
If I was a major sponsor of Tour of Colorado and turned on the live feed, only to see the static camera of the finish line, I would have to twice about the money I just spent, and worry about having to explain the return on investment to my company's CFO.

I hope of the return to Colorado, and some good Pro Teams again.

Good article. Obviously not practical for a marginal event like the USPC. I don't seem to remember them having these kind of problems at the Tour of Utah though, maybe it's because they don't go so high?

[The SnowShow]

Why have the Tour of Utah and CA been successful enough to keep going? What can they learn from those races and apply to this one?

[uglymoney]

VIP is already a thing there.. and it's way more than $20.. or was I should say.

RoI is hard to show for these types of sponsorship's in the US.

Maybe VIP is the wrong term. Cheap tickets at high volume. What is ROL.

[Dee Hubbs]

Maybe VIP is the wrong term. Cheap tickets at high volume. What is ROL.

ROI Return On Investment.

[Garth Bimble]

Why have the Tour of Utah and CA been successful enough to keep going? What can they learn from those races and apply to this one?

The ToU has only had UCI classification since 2011 so it hasn't been bringing in the big name teams for long. As for the ToC, the timing is better. It competes with the Giro but since a lot of riders don't ride the Giro if they're doing the Tour they use it as a warm up so a lot of big names show up. The USPC, running in mid-August competed with the Vuelta and anybody who wasn't riding in that was either cooked from the Tour or didn't give a shit. Add the Olympics like this year and nobody would show up.

[The SnowShow]

Anyone checking out the CO Classic tomorrow through Sunday? Steamboat tomorrow, Beaver Creek Friday, Golden Saturday, Denver Sunday. Should be fun - there’s a big climb at the end of the Beaver Creek stage.

However, I miss the days of the Pro Cycling Challenge with huge mountain stages, the madness on Indy Pass, the ABasin finish and the Vail time trials. Too bad we can’t get another real race going.