American Stage Races

With the seemingly (I know, seemingly is still a marginal term) popularity of professional bicycle racing cropping up all over America race promoters are doing their best to put on races that resemble the one race that non-cycling fans recognize, the Tour de France. But, keep in mind, while most Americans recognize a race of this nature, they don't understand it. Any cyclist who's been asked to explain stage races to an innocent bystander knows what it feels like to watch a blank expression wash over someones face as you talk. It's impossible to say the least.

None the less, I get it. A bike race leading with the word "Tour" is going trigger warm, fuzzy, Lance Armstrong memories for the laymen. And, I'm perfectly fine with all these promoters actually putting together these "Tour" races with 5 or 6 stages. Mostly I like this because I feel sorry for domestic pros who just have to race insanely dangerous crits all year in places like Athens where they actually have a "Crash Corner" in front of a bar where the drunks get their entertainment. But I digress.

With the announcement of a new stage race across upstate New York this year my problem with American stage racing jumped off my computer screen and hit me in the face. This new race is titled "Tour de New York." Why do American races feel the need to substitute to the word "de" instead of, well, "of?" Does throwing in this French/Spanish preposition give your race anymore legitimacy? I don't think so. California has managed to become the largest stage race in the US and they did this by taking the risky chance of using all English words in it's race's title, the Amgen Tour of California.

This small point sticks out to me as another stupid marketing scheme where American bike race promoters don't trust their fan base to support a race that isn't in some way connected to the races across the pond. And, it's not just stage races. Labor day weekend in San Francisco I went downtown to watch the "Giro di San Francisco." This title was clearly meant to resemble the "Giro d'Italia" which, for those of you not in the know, is the Tour de France of Italy. But, the Giro di SF was a crit. It lasted one hour for the pros. Nobody that showed up to watch, at least intentionally, was fooled by the name. And calling it something oddly Italian didn't make non cyclist show up for a bit of culture.

When I started writing this I thought it'd be nice and short. I guess I was wrong. However, my point is simple. American race promoters should be applauded for their efforts in bringing more bike racing to the US. Especially more stage racing. But, until they stop trying to hide the titles of their races behind something that sounds like it might have taken place in Europe, that applause has to come in a golf clap style.