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Tour of America: Potential sponsors "are very interested in being part of something so big."

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19.12.2007/ After Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times in a row, the USA  seems to be ready for a 23 day long stage race: The Tour of America. US company Aqu Inc. is committed to organizing a yearly tour from the East Coast to the West Coast "in the same vein of the Tour de France." After the original route was heavily critized as the stages were too long, Aqu Inc. announced a new route which is shorter and more consistent with professional racing standards. Cyclingheroes spoke with Tour director Frank Arokiasamy.

Copyright Cyclingheroes
Lance Armstrong and other US riders inspired Frank Arokiasamy... (picture: Cyclingheroes)

Cyclingheroes: Who is Frank Arokiasamy?

Frank Arokiasamy:  Frank is a corporate consultant, who is working on his own firm now. He has a Doctorate in Economics from the Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He is not a Cyclist but someone with experience in Business.

Cyclingheroes: When did you came up with the idea to create a Tour of America?

Frank Arokiasamy: I was watching the Tour De France in July 2002, and watching Lance, and other Americans, and team US Postal doing incredibly well, but had no opportunity to see any of them compete in an upper echelon race in the US. So I asked myself, why not have one in the US and have spent 5 years putting this together.

Cyclingheroes: What kind of feedback did you receive after you announced your plans for a Tour of America at the Interbike show?

Frank Arokiasamy: Essentially two kinds: 1. Route is too long and you are crazy. 2. We need to make this happen and its about time America had a Grand tour. Make it happen and I will do anything to help you make it happen.

Cyclingheroes: Did you get reactions from professional teams and riders too?

Frank Arokiasamy: We have sent potential invitations to the best teams, and many of them wanted more information. Reactions were good but understandably cautious.

Cyclingheroes: Did you discuss the Tour of America with the UCI and the top teams?

Frank Arokiasamy: Yes we have had some preliminary discussions.

Cyclingheroes: The UCI has finalized its calender for 2008 already. If the race is not sanctioned by the UCI, the top teams are (according to UCI rules) not allowed to start at the Tour of America. Wouldn't it be better to organize the first edition of the Tour of America in 2009?

Frank Arokiasamy: We are not sanctioned at this point but hope to convince them to sanction us. Yes, it would be easier to do it for 2009, but that would also require another huge capital infusion.

Cyclingheroes: How are potential sponsors reacting, and are there companies which have signed a contract to sponsor the Tour of America already?

Frank Arokiasamy: They are very interested in being part of something so big. We are trying to convince them that this is going to be a massive world wide spectacle that they would benefit from.

Cyclingheroes: The original race schedule featured very long stages. Can you say something about the new route?

Frank Arokiasamy:  We listened to the experts and decided we needed to comply. They were absolutely right about the stage lengths. So we have a route that still goes across the country with some spectacular sites in between.

Cyclingheroes: As you probably know European pro cycling is in one of its biggest crises ever. Who will conduct anti-doping tests at the Tour of America?

Frank Arokiasamy: We are talking to a couple of organizations that we could contract with. The thing is, I look at the whole doping issue in a different light. I think it's a great day for cycling that we have caught so many athletes in cycling. It shows a sincere desire to clean up the sport and protect the long term health and well being of the cyclist. It's a great day when then ruling bodies in cycling like UCI and de Grand Tours do this. It's about putting the sports and people above greed and money. The reason that a lack of exposure of drug use in other sports exists is their lack of desire to come clean and protect their athletes and the kids that follow the sport and their heroes. Just an opinion.

 

The breakdown of the stages of the Tour is as follows:

Event

Number

Avg. Miles/Kilometers

Total

Time trials

3

34/54.4

102/163.2

Team time trials

1

30/48

30/48

Mountain Stages

6

117.2/187.5

703/1124.8

Flat Stages

11

127.4/203.9

1402/2243.2

 
 
More information: www.thetourofamerica.com
 

Tour of America announced new Route

The Tour of America is a month long cycling race that will commence the Saturday closest to the September 11th and end three weekends later on a Sunday. For the year 2008 the event will begin appropriately on September 6th, 2008 and end on the 28th of September 2008. The event will be 23 days long with 2 days of rest in between. The first day will start from Central Park. The remaining 22 days of races will snake its way through states in our country till we reach one of the many beautiful cities on the West Coast. This would truly be a race across the continent from sea to shining sea. The route taken by the race each year will differ with every single one of the 48 states in the contiguous U.S. being trekked across by the cyclist once every 5 years. All races will be run on local and state roads avoiding any Interstate Highway.

This is a tentative route and subject to change upon city approval: 


The breakdown of the stages of the Tour is as follows:

Stage

Date

Start

Finish

Miles/Km

Cumulative

Distance

1

9/06/08

Central Park, NY

Philadelphia, PA

122/195.2

122/195.2

2

9/07/08

Philadelphia, PA

College Park, MD

135/216

257/411.2

3

9/08/08##

Olney, MD

Frederick, MD

30/48

287/450.2

4

9/09/08

Winchester, VA

Morgantown, WV

139/222.4

426/681.6

5

9/10/08

Fairmont, WV

Athens, OH

142/227.2

568/908.8

6

9/11/08

McArthur, OH

Cincinnati, OH

125/200

693/1108.8

7

9/12/08#

Greenfield, IN

Indianapolis, IN

27/43.2

720/1152

8

9/13/08

Casey, IL

St. Louis, MO

143/228.8

863/1380.8

9

9/14/08

St. Louis, MO

Columbia, MO

134/214.4

997/1595.2

Rest Day

9/15/08

Columbia, MO

Denver, CO

 (via Air)

 

10

9/16/08*

Denver, CO

Buena Vista, CO

120/192

1117/1787.2

11

9/17/08*

Poncha Springs, CO

Pagosa Springs, CO

135/216

1252/2003.2

12

9/18/08

Farmington, NM

Gallup, NM

118/188.8

1370/2192

13

9/19/08*

Window Rock, AZ

Winslow, AZ

125/200

1495/2392

14

9/20/08*

Cameron, AZ

Williams, AZ

113/180.8

1608/2572.8

15

9/21/08

Kingman, AZ

Las Vegas, NV

110/176

1718/2748.8

16

9/22/08#

Las Vegas, NV 

Las Vegas, NV 

35/56 

1753/2804.8 

Rest Day

9/23/08 

Las Vegas, NV 

Barstow, CA 

 

 

17

9/24/08*

Ridgecrest, CA

Whitney Portal, CA

92/147.2

1845/2952

18

9/25/08*

Big Pine, CA

Yosemite, CA

118/188.8

1963/3140.8

19

9/26/08

Harden Flat, CA

Sacramento, CA

127/203.2

2090/3344

20

9/27/08#

Napa, CA

Santa Rosa, CA

40/64

2130/3408

21

9/28/08

Santa Rosa, CA

Palo Alto, CA

107/171.2

2237/3579.2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

# Time Trials

 ## Team Time Trial

 

 

 

 

* Mountain Stages

 

More information: www.thetourofamerica.com/

 

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