Tour de Georgia cancelled for '09

The state's top cycling event will not be held in 2009, but plans a return for 2010. The Tour de Georgia made the announcement on its website.

Longtime member of the organization, Tom Saddlemire, spoke on behalf of the Tour's Board of Directors.

"We believe this unique and exciting event willl endure. We've decided to use 2009 as a time to plan ahead and properly position the Tour de Georgia to make best use of new partnerships we forged in 2008."

Chairman of the Tour's Board, Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle, had these comments.

"This is a decision I feel is wise and one that will strengthen the Tour for years to come".

The 7-day-long Tour de Georgia bills itself as North America’s premier professional cycling event. But it's struggled financially as it could not find a title sponsor the last two years.

Support in the Tour de Georgia declined following Lance Armstrong’s retirement. The announcement to cancel the race came despite Armstrong’s recent comeback, including tenative plans to return to the Georgia event.

Tour de Georgia drew nearly 1,200 visitors

More money came in from this year's Tour de Georgia than last year, even though fewer people attended.The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports the 600-mile cycling race brought in $37 million dollars.That's 40% more than last year's race.One survey says the Tour drew nearly 1,200 visitors who spent an average of $380 a day.

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Tour de Georgia

Racing in the US for the first time, a citizen of Belarus, a former region of the USSR, won the Tour de Georgia yesterday. Twenty-five year old Kanstantin Sivtsov took the overall lead Saturday in a grueling climb up Brasstown Bald Mountain, while his teammate, New Zealand’s Thomas Henderson won the race’s final stage in a final sprint through downtown Atlanta yesterday.

Falcons new quarterback

The Michael Vick era is officially over in Atlanta Falcon’s history. The Falcons drafted their quarterback of the future, Matt Ryan from Boston College. It was a position Vick was sure to have until he was convicted and imprisoned on dog-fighting charges last year. The new quarterback is part of a campaign to put a new face on the Falcons.

Braves lose

The Atlanta Braves lost to the New York Mets yesterday, 3-6.

JJ Haedo wins second stretch of Tour de Georgia in Augusta

The Tour de Georgia bike race has completed its second stretch, crossing the finish line in Augusta on Tuesday.

J.J. Haedo of Team CSC from Denmark won that stage, which spanned 117 miles from Statesboro to Augusta.

Fans lined Reynolds Street in Augusta, cheering and ringing cowbells in support of the racers.

Some drama in the closing moments. There was a crash involving five to seven riders near the finish line.

No word yet on injuries or whether anyone will have to leave the race as a result.

Organizers, meanwhile, say the event is a tourism boon.

They say about 500,000 people statewide attended last year.

"The past two years the tour has brought over $25 million of direct economic impact," says Chris Aronhalt, tour director. "That's over the seven days of the tour."

The Tour de Georgia spans 600 miles across the state.

The next stage begins Wednesday in Washington and ends in Gainesville.

The competition ends in Atlanta on Sunday.

'08 Tour de Georgia gets 5 new stops

Next year’s Tour de Georgia includes some new cities on the race course, but comes at the expense of other major stops from previous years.

The cycling event will have five new cities in the week-long race next April. Tybee Island will host the start, and is followed by newcomers Statesboro, Washington, Braselton, and Suwanee. Returning host cities include Atlanta, Augusta, and Brasstown Bald.

Cities left out for 2008 include Macon and Rome. Event director Chris Aronhalt says crafting the new route only had to do with letting residents in other communities share the Tour experience .

"It has nothing at all to do with the support. In fact the race would have loved to go back to those communities like Macon and Rome".

Tour organizers also had to be mindful of the route’s mileage, and incorporating mountain and coastal stages.

Aronhalt says the race expects to be financially healthy, with new headline sponsors to be announced at the start of the year.

Tour de Georgia alive and well

Georgia’s annual cycling race is set to return next year, and bring tourism dollars with it. The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports the Tour de Georgia will return next April for its 6th season. Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle will chair its board. The Tour’s future was in jeopardy after losing major sponsorship. Its leaders say they’re trying to revitalize the race by generating publicity throughout the year as well as forging stronger partnerships with businesses. Over the past five years, nearly 3-million people have come to watch the tour, which has generated $148-million dollars for local communities.

Tour de Georgia brings in millions

The Tour de Georgia cycling race brought the state more than $27 million dollars this year. The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that state officials don’t have numbers for individual cities yet but they have heard positive feedback from city officials. The Tour de Georgia wrapped up its fourth consecutive annual race in April. The race route goes through North Georgia and draws tourists to many small towns. More than half a million spectators watched the tour on its 667-mile route.

Tour hits Rome

The Tour de Georgia spun into Rome Tuesday.

After three laps of downtown, including multiple climbs up steep Clocktower Hill, Serbian cyclist Ivan Stevic narrowly won Stage Two of the race.

The race left Thomaston in the morning. Cyclists traveled 135 miles over moderate terrain to Rome, from which they will ride to Chattanooga on Wednesday.

Although Stevic, a member of the Toyota-United team, won Stage Two, Italian cyclist Daniele Contrini of the Tinkoff Credit Systems team remained the overall leader.

Stevic is now in fourth place.

Tour de Georgia underway

The Tour de Georgia started today at 1:00 pm in Peachtree City. 15 international teams are on their way to Macon. They will race over 660 miles through Georgia this week.

The 5 year-old race is big in cycling cycles, because it is a tune up for European races like the Tour de France and Giro D’Italia. The most famous stage of the race is the climb up Georgia’s highest mountain, Brasstown Bald on Friday. It is considered one of the steepest climbs in cycling.

Last year’s winner Floyd Landis is fighting doping allegations and will not be in the race, but cycling fans will be watching American Tyler Hamilton. He is coming off of a 2 years doping suspension and is racing with a Russian owned team.

Georgians can cheer for a local team sponsored by Jittery Joe's, an Athens coffee roaster. The Tour de Georgia will finish Sunday at Centennial Olympic park in Atlanta.

Tour de Georgia underway

Day-1 of the Tour de Georgia is today. Cyclists will start in Peachtree City, and ride to Macon, covering about 97 miles. Start time is 1pm.

The event just recently got a big infusion of money from A-T-and-T to keep it going for this year. The race has been expanded to 7 days, covering 667 miles.