General Cycling Discussion - Tour de Georgia

Did nobody catch Gov. Sonny Perdue's latest pride and joy, the cycling race from Savannah, Georgia to Atlanta, Georgia? I thought I even saw Greg Lemond give Sonny a yellow jersey, on the condition that he start riding a bike.

This race is to finish in Centennial Park on (I think) April 27 (the same weekend as Confederate Memorial Day, a holiday for many of us) and is hoped to become a major race in times to come.

I hope it generates popularity of cycling in and around Atlanta.

:beer:

Yeah, I walked by the tv the other day and overheard that on WSB news. Did I catch them say they hoped it would be as large as the Tour de France some day???

Originally posted by zman92atl
Did I catch them say they hoped it would be as large as the Tour de France some day???
Yes, that's what I heard them say, too.

But wouldn't that mean the race would have to go up through the mountains and not directly from Savannah to Atlanta? Of course, I don't know the route. But at least they are trying to start something in the way of road cycling sport, something that couldn't hurt us in the least.

It's quite ambitious to compete with the Tour. :eek:

But I love the idea. Hope it sticks.

I'm possibly heading to Savannah for the prologue.

www.tourdegeorgia.org This should be a blast! Georgia is becoming more bike friendly every year. I had sent in a volunteer form but have not heard anything from them.

Does anybody know who will be representing Postal in the race?

Maybe a few BF members can get together!!!

I know that cycling still isn;t huge here in the US, and maybe with an even like this, is could help it grow.. but why is there no "grand tour" in the US ?

Jeff

This is the coolest thing I have ever seen come out of Georgia in the last few years.

why is there no "grand tour" in the US ?
If I remeber correctly, the promoter wants to turn this into a "Grand Tour" in time. Hopefully the following will be big enough to support this idea.

Amazing! How is it that this has been such a secret?? :confused:

Oh man I'm stokin'!!!! I live in Rome GA and stage three runs right through our little town! It's suppose to be here around 2 - 3 ish on Friday 4/25. I'm told the riders are going to make about 3 laps around one or two blocks of our city and then hit the remainder of their route for that day.

I would love to see this turn into something even bigger :)

Last I heard they still needed volunteers. I'm gonna run up to Ellijay Saturday and help out with the second sprint of the day.

Originally posted by SipperPhoto
why is there no "grand tour" in the US ?
Hard to say. The US has had "grand tours" off and on in the past. The Red Zinger, which became the Coors Classic in the 70s and 80s, then the Tour de Trump which became the Tour duPont in the late 80s and early 90s. Since then, nothing.

I suspect that there isn't sufficient support to outweigh the complaints of those incovenienced by road closures, and rounding up sufficient sponsorship in the US is just too difficult.