Yet until now, neither country has hosted any of the big world cycling events. They now want to change that, and this year both countries are planning important races.

The U.S. company Aqu Inc. is thinking about starting the Tour of America, which would cover the whole country from east to west. The race would last 4 weeks and consist of 27 stages. This event would coincide with the Vuelta a España and the German Tour. And Russia is planning an “end-of-season” race for 2008 and a stage race for next year.


One of the objective of these races is to make cycling better known in those two countries, thereby increasing the number of cycling enthusiasts, something that was accomplished with the Tour of California, which attracted more than 1.3 million spectators. If the Tour of America were to become a reality, studies project that the number of spectators could reach between 25 and 30 million.

Big projects

Race organizers plan to invite the world’s best teams. The Tour of America would cover 7,500km in 27 stages, of which 7 would be mountain stages, with at least one of about 250km. The winner of the Tour of America would take home one million dollars, and the best team would win a prize of 250,000 dollars.

Plans for the Russian race include stages through tourist areas such as the shores of the Black Sea and the mountainous areas like the Caucasus. The expectation is that the prizes will be the same or greater than those of the Tour de France.

In addition, the Russian Cycling Federation has another project in mind: to create, thanks to the sponsorship of several Russian companies, a national team that in 2008 would enter the continental category and attempt to join the Pro Tour in a short amount of time.

The proposed dates for the Tour of America are September 6 through October 5, with a prologue from Central Park to Ground Zero and the finish line in San Francisco. And Russia would host an “end-of-season” race in 2008 and a stage race next year. Who knows, we may be witnessing the birth of two great tours that, sometime in the future, could overtake the three existing great stage races: the Tour de France, the Vuelta a España and the Giro d’Italia.