[But EF Education First team boss Jonathan Vaughters told Cyclingnews that it could be the wake-up call that America's pro cycling teams needed. [But EF Education First team boss Jonathan Vaughters told Cyclingnews that it could be the wake-up call that America's pro cycling teams needed. 'Cycling in the U.S. is a different market than a lot of places. There are never big, state-sponsored, big-money races like the new Saudi Arabian race or the UAE Tour. It will never happen in the US. Municipalities and government agencies will never sponsor cycling. Our political system will not allow it. It needs to come completely from private dollars."

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After 14 years, at least the Tour of California is not financially sustainable, according to organizer AEG.

"Every year it becomes more and more difficult to organize a race. This new reality has forced us to re-evaluate our options and we are actively evaluating all aspects of the event to determine if there is a business model that will allow us to successfully resume the race in 2021," Christine Klein, race chairman and vice president of AEG Sports, said in a Tuesday said in a statement.

"I don't have exact numbers," Vaughters told Cyclingews, "to quote a guess, but in terms of overhead costs, the Tour of California probably costs about the same as the Tour de France. In a race like the Tour de France, the government supports the race as a patrimoine de France, a part of French culture. This makes it difficult to host such a big event in the United States."

Vaughters said that he believes that participation events such as Ironman triathlons and marathons like New York and Boston, where you can qualify to participate, are great examples of models that work well in the US. [Translated to cycling, events like Dirty Kanza and the Leadville 100 work well in the US.

"If you look at Ironman," Vaughters continued, "it is a very American venture and was sold to a Chinese private equity firm for $600 million because of the value of the participants paying for their participation.

"That model works in the U.S., but that's not to say that you can't have professional cycling in the U.S. 120, 130, 140 elite riders racing in Dirty Kanza just like a World Tour event, with 20,000 spectators behind them. They race on the exact same course, at the exact same venue, at the exact same time."

"This is the kind of model that works in the US.

The more traditional, TV-oriented American sports like American football, baseball, and basketball are "almost made for TV," Vaughters said, and are accessible to TV viewers.

"But it's not necessarily made for television, although it should be, because the cycling race is six hours long, it's epic, it's an adventure, it's an accomplishment, and it's part of the beauty of cycling," Vaughters said.

"Dirty Kanza, which I mention over and over again because I like the business model, would not be a really attractive television event formatted in the right way.

"I believe that sports fans in developing countries like the US, Australia, and the UK want to participate and race themselves, as opposed to being passive spectators of cycling. They are ambitious, they want to train and be part of it. So I think things are heading in that direction," he told Cycling News. [As for Grand Tours such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and Vuelta a España, and one-day monuments such as Paris-Roubaix and the Tour de Flanders, Vaughters reiterated that nothing needs to change in Europe, the heartland of cycling.

"These events capture the imagination of spectators around the world like nothing else, but we need to consider whether many secondary stage races are the best way to introduce cycling to a global audience, or whether we should consider other methods.

"There could be an inclusive stage race," Vaughters suggested.

"There is an event called RAGBRAI that runs across Iowa, camping out. [EF Education First rider] Lachlan Morton is running GBDuro. He was camping in the bushes by the side of the road...Open it up to 20-30,000 people and all of a sudden it becomes an inclusive stage race."

"I'm not going to say it's a 100% magic formula, but in the non-traditional market in cycling, we need to be more open to ideas like that," Vaughters said, adding that his team, and Morton in particular, will be running a more traditional professional race this year alongside participating in many "alternative" cycling races.

"Pro cycling needs to look at itself and be a little more nimble and less traditional than it has historically been," Vaughters said.

"That said, we must not forget that the first Tour de France, held in 1903, was essentially an adventure race. Can a human being cycle around France, and which one can do it the fastest? ......" This is the origin of the alternative event.

The Tour was followed by the French public in L'Auto, the newspaper in which the race was launched to promote it, as a precursor to today's dot-watching of participants in distance cycling events on the Internet. At the time, Vaughters says, the Tour was, as cycling should be today, "a spirit of adventure, a spirit of the outdoors, a spirit of independence, and a spirit of participation that was open to all."

As for whether there will be an event to fill the gap next season when the Tour of California is cancelled, it is the only UCI World Tour event for men in the United States and the only UCI Women's World Tour event in North America for women.

"Of course, it may open the door to other opportunities. But I hope that the organizers in California, with the backing and the resources and the right people, will take a long, hard look at it and say, 'How can we reincarnate this into something that will benefit the American audience? But racing in America has to be reinvented.'

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