The Tour of California will not return to San Diego County in 2010, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The bicycling race, which, earlier this year, attracted nearly 300,000 spectators, 16 pro teams, and 150 racers–including Lance Armstrong–will bypass the city of Escondido and San Diego County next year.
Andrew Messick, president of AEG Sports, whose parent company owns Tour of California, cited San Diego County’s bureaucratic inefficiency and difficulties as the reason why AEG decided to bypass San Diego next year.
Messick went on to say that, “With the exception of the city of San Francisco, we struggle more in San Diego County than anywhere else. Just with the day-to-day of getting stuff done. Permits, city services. What we call plumbing.”
Photos by Charlie Neuman from The San Diego Union-Tribune
The article in its entirety can be read below:
By Don Norcross
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
8:07 p.m. October 21, 2009
The Amgen Tour of California cycling race will not return to San Diego County next year.
Andrew Messick, president of AEG Sports, whose parent company owns the event, confirmed via e-mail Wednesday that the stage race is bypassing San Diego.
Robin Bettin, Escondido’s assistant director of community services, also said the race will not be back.
“It’s unfortunate for the city,” Bettin said. “It was a great event.”
Race organizers have scheduled news conferences throughout the state Thursday to announce the 2010 course.
Started in 2006, the Tour of California has developed into the most popular stage race in the United States. Featuring a starting field of 16 pro teams and nearly 150 cyclists, the race came to San Diego County for the first time in February.
Lance Armstrong (left) and tour winner (and teammate) Levi Leipheimer share the podium and a bottle of bubbly in Escondido last winter.
Buoyed by Lance Armstrong’s presence after a 3½-year retirement, plus a taxing, scenic climb up Palomar Mountain, the 96.8-mile stage that started in Rancho Bernardo and finished in downtown Escondido attracted tremendous spectator turnouts. One source estimated the stage drew nearly 300,000 fans, although some believed the figure was inflated.
“This is the largest crowd I’ve ever seen on American soil in the last 25 years,” race director Jim Birrell said.
Australian pro cyclist Michael Rogers referred to the atmosphere along Palomar Mountain as “Tour de France stuff.”
But while he was encouraged with the fan support, Messick said organizing an event in San Diego County was difficult.
“With the exception of the city of San Francisco, we struggle more in San Diego County than anywhere else,” Messick said in March. “Just with the day-to-day of getting stuff done. Permits, city services. What we call plumbing.”
Messick would not comment further Wednesday other than to confirm the event was not returning.
Qualcomm CEO Jeff Jacobs and David Vigil, Qualcomm’s vice president of business development, were instrumental in bringing the race here. Both donated money to cover expenses for the city of Escondido.
Between Jacobs and Vigil’s contributions, plus money from race organizers, Bettin said there “wasn’t a net loss” for the city.
Bettin said that on June 26, Escondido made a $200,000 “letter of commitment” to race organizers to host a 2010 stage.
Regarding the race now skipping Escondido, Bettin said, “It’s kind of good news, bad news. It’s bad news because we lost an event with a lot of visibility. To a much smaller degree, (it’s good news because) we don’t have to worry about raising that kind of money.”
Jacobs, an avid cyclist who had raced at Ironman Hawaii three times, said he would have been willing to financially support the race again next year.
A San Diego North Convention & Visitors Bureau spokesperson said the event accounted for 2,000 booked hotel room nights.
It was a huge economic boost for the whole community,” said Debra Rosen, president and CEO of the San Diego North Chamber of Commerce. “It put Escondido on the map. There was just no negative to it. It was all positive.”
Said Lisa Grumel, co-owner of Vincent’s restaurant in Escondido, “I’m disappointed it won’t be returning. It brought so much energy to Escondido.”
Robin Bettin, Escondido’s assistant director of community services, offers a rather conservative synopsis of what will be lost while offering an overly-“rosey” and questionable synopsis of what will be gained by Tour de California’s decision to bypass San Diego in 2010.
Bettin tells UT reporter that, “It’s kind of good news, bad news. It’s bad news because we lost an event with a lot of visibility. To a much smaller degree, (it’s good news because) we don’t have to worry about raising that kind of money.”
‘Visibility’? It seems that a lot more than just ‘visibility’ will be lost.
What will be lost is the opportunity for nearly 300,000 people to come together, to do something active at an exceptional “Tour de France”-like pro-bike social event in our very own San Diego county. In addition, what will also be lost is a significant degree of local economic generation; 2,000 people booked hotel rooms in Escondido for Tour de California earlier this year. The room fees that would have generated economic stimulation, including the money those visitors would have been spent on food and other goods, will be lost.
Actually, the visibility is increasing in one way–it’s visible to San Diego, California, and U.S. cyclists and cycling enthusiasts that San Diego officials dropped the ball on the Tour of California bicycle race.
San Diego should be a mainstay of the Tour of California race and local officials should work harder and negotiate more firmly to make sure that it is.
Mr. Messick’s statements shed new light on the inefficiencies of San Diego’s historically troubled bureaucracy.
This synopsis was originally posted at Bic Control.
Some SDUT commenters, are calling for an investigation into who exactly dropped the ball on this issue.
