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Random Thought: I Want My Scandinavian Road Race!

Not to play too heavily to Mags, but why the hell isn't there a single Pro Tour event anywhere in Scandinavia?

First off, it's not like the Pro Cycling Tour is so exclusive as to not have a place for a new event. This year's schedule includes such non-historic events as the phony, disliked Eindhoven TTT, plus tours of Germany and Poland, as well as the thoroughly redundant Eneco Tour, which used its similarity to Liege-Bastogne-Liege to generate interest this year. France has six events; Belgium five, and Italy and Spain four each.

Scandinavians have sufficiently enlivened racing in recent years: Thor Hushovd is the best example (well, except for Bjarne Riis), but Magnus Backstedt Thomas Lovqvist, and a dozen or so Danes are all over the PCT these days. CSC is nominally a Scandinavian team. And there's always the chance of a Finn showing up too, right? [I rule out Iceland as a Cycling nation; Ask Bend, Ore. native Chris Horner -- too much lava is hell on tires.]

The Danmark Rundt is a marginal event, and there's a one-day Scandinavian Open in Sweden for the Continental Tour boys, but that's it. This despite the fact that, as has been proven at the Worlds (Denmark four times, Olso once), that you can have a top event there. My preference would be the Tour of Hammerfest, where both the name and the geography evoke the spirit of Cycling. But I'm open to other suggestions as well.