The eternal question as to whether it pays for cities to pony up the big cash necessary to bring a Grand Tour to its streets will continue forever, but for one city, Amsterdam, the answer is a qualified yes.
The Netherlands hosted the first three stages of this year's Giro d'Italia. Amsterdam received the honor of opening the three-week Grand Tour with a prologue through its streets.
According to the municipality of Amsterdam, 200,000 people watched the race in Amsterdam. The municipality valued the publicity from the event at 24 million euros. The theoretical value and what was actually earned differed greatly though.
The city had hoped to pull in 25 million euros for hosting the Giro, but instead netted only 10.8 million. That seems like a paltry final sum, but considering that the investment was only 3.4 million, the city still came out just fine.
Alderwoman, Carolien Gehrels, was pleased with the final numbers: "All in all, you can say that it was a successful event. When you see what it has brought, I would do it again."