Tour of Scotland

Tour of Qatar, Tour of Oman, what about a professional Tour of Scotland? Ok, so maybe not so hot and sunny, but it existed in the distant past, before I was involved in cycling and I really have little or no knowledge about it's former status, but could we get it up and running again?

We've had successful stages of recent Tours of Britain in Scotland, but possibly not on the most demanding or scenic of routes that could have been selected, but chosen for fully understandable logistical reasons to link up with the other stages. Having something similar to the Ras in Ireland is a possibility, it slowly built it's status and appeals more to the 'Continental' pro teams and domestic squads, so no huge financial demands which would involve the hard to secure TV coverage deal.

The 'Girvan', a 3 day race, has sat nicely in the a largely domestic calendar for many years at Easter, known as a well organised and brutal race in sometimes difficult Scottish spring/winter conditions. For club racers this has been the highest level race a rider with ambition can ride in Scotland, but doesn't have anything like the same standing the Ras has with the locals, I've ridden both and no local schools out cheering the fans in Scotland, no huge crowds at the finish. The Irish have managed to grasp the public with their event and it's shown on the evening news programme.

Ireland has a population of 4.5 million, Scotland 5 million, so does having a week long stage race with a high profile contribute to their much bigger success on the international stage? The answer has to be a resounding "yes". We obviously have the talented individuals with the knowledge and expertise to able to run great events, otherwise the Girvan would not exist after all these years, but do we lack the marketing skills to attract a big name sponsor who has the 'shock and awe' title to convince regional police and local councils to all work together to make it happen, is this what's holding us back?

We have towns stuck right in the most marketable Scottish scenery which have the facilities to look after a peleton for a night, Fort William, Aviemore, Oban, etc, intersperced with the larger towns and cities, avoiding large transfers between stages. So what does it take to bring all this together, a willing organiser in each region (co-operation again, this time within the Scottish cycling community), a sponsor, somebody with detailed knowledge of the media, a date in the middle of our summer, support from the Scottish government?

We could have something our young riders would see as a stepping stone to greater things, a semi-pro stage race just like the Ras which would provide a focal point for the season and hopefully boost the sport, raising the level.

We have talented riders, are they simply missing an opportunity, getting a pummelling at Easter and getting demoralised, Easter's for the hard men. The July Tour of Scotland could be as close as we could get to a European stage race, where different riders would be in a position to show what they can do, there's currently no stage a talented climber can prove their worth unless they can also ride track for the GB squad (look at Dan Martin) or up and leave to go to France, is a stage race the stage we're looking for?