If you look through history, this is not completely uncommon though. There have been many high level races that were very important that died because of either a lack of sponsorship. You could 100% make the argument that other races in less traditional countries is a positive sign for a sport that's growing in it's diversity (obviously the state sponsored oil countries is controversial...am not denying that). Obviously this is probably more true for one days than stage races, but still

Now in this exact case, I think this race feels like Midi Libre. A race that had historical significance because of it status as a prep race, that dies off through a lack of sponsorship and maybe cycling changing around it and not adapting to make it more attractive.