Tour de Georgia starts Monday

ATLANTA - The 2008 Tour de Georgia starts Monday on Tybee Island, and rolls into Gainesville on Wednesday.

The week-long, 600 mile race is in its sixth season.

The Tour de Georgia has firmly established itself on the international racing calendar as one of the premier tune-up stage races for the Grand Tours of Europe, like the Tour de France. It has also substantiated itself as a showcase event for Georgia tourism and its world-class southern hospitality, said Chris Aronhalt, managing partner of Medalist Sports and event director for the Tour de Georgia. Medalist Sports is responsible for all route planning and race logistics.

The Tour remains one of the highest ranked stage races outside of Europe with a 2.HC rating from the Union Cycliste Internationale (international governing body of cycling), and was the first race in North America to receive this top rating. It is one of 15 races on the 2008 USA Cycling Professional Tour.

The event has grown from a five-stage race in 2003 to a seven-stage weeklong contest with 600 miles of racing. Last year the Tour challenged 15 of the top U.S. and ProTour professional teams with its longest route, covering 667 miles.

Stage One features the first of five new host venues, Tybee Island. The Overall Start of the seven-day race makes its inaugural seaside visit on Monday. The stage will begin at 10:30 a.m., covering 71.8 miles (115.6 km) through the coastal Lowcounry of Chatham County. There will be three Georgia Power Sprint lines on the route (locations tbd).

The pro peloton of 120 professional cyclists, representing 15 teams, is expected to cross the finish line in Savannah between 1:05-1:45 p.m. It has been five years since the Tour de Georgia has been contested in Savannah, America's first planned city, when it hosted the Prologue of the 2003 Tour.

Stage Two will depart Tuesday from first-time host Statesboro, Ga., located 50 miles north of Savannah. This 115.7 mile (186.2 km) route will include two Georgia Power Sprints (one will be in Millen) and the first official climb of the week, a United Community Bank King of the Mountain (KOM) competition in North Augusta. A circuit finish in downtown Augusta will take cyclists into South Carolina for the first time. It is the fourth time the Tour has been hosted by Augusta. A second day of generally flat terrain, this stage will begin at 11 a.m. in Statesboro and is expected to finish in downtown Augusta between 3:15-4:30 p.m.

Stage Three makes its inaugural start in historic Washington, Ga. on Wednesday. Situated about 35 miles north of Augusta, Washington, considered one of the most picturesque small towns in Georgia, will fire the start gun at 11 a.m. for a 109.7 mile (176.5 km) stage across rolling terrain to Gainesville. Along the way, riders will face one UCB KOM climb (tbd) and three Georgia Power Sprints (Tignal, Comer, Homer). This will mark the third time the Tour has been held in Hall County, with Gainesville hosting a stage finish in 2003 and a stage start in 2005. A downtown finish will include circuits and is expected to finish between 3-4 p.m.

Two firsts for the Tour will take place on Thursday. Stage Four features a 10-mile (16.1 km) Team Time Trial at Road Atlanta. Renowned for its hilly 2.5-mile, 12-turn race track used for motorsports events like Petit Le Mans, Road Atlanta will host a Tour stage for the first time. The Tour de Georgia has hosted an individual time trial for four consecutive years, but this is the inaugural Team Time Trial. In this exciting race against the clock, each team must field all eight riders at one time. Teams will begin in heats; two teams on the track at once.

The longest stage of the Tour will take place on Friday, passing through 10 Georgia counties. Stage Five is 133.4 miles in length (214.7 km) and challenges riders with three UCB KOMs (Burnt Mtn, Woody Gap, Crown Mtn). The epic day of climbing begins in Suwanee, the first time the Tour has started in Gwinnett County. A new route will wind north, with a Georgia Power Sprint in Cumming, to the finish line in Dahlonega. It is the third time that Dahlonega has hosted the Tour (2004-2006). The race begins in Suwanee at 10 a.m. and is expected to finish between 2:50-4:10 p.m. in Dahlonega.

Stage Six features the signature climb of the Tour de Georgia, the stage finish at the highest spot in Georgia (4,783 feet), Brasstown Bald Mountain. What makes the climb so difficult is the 88.4 miles (142.3 km) of racing through the Appalachian Mountains of Georgia, including UCB KOM climbs across Hogpen Gap and Unicoi Gap; points for a third KOM climb will be awarded on the top of Brasstown Bald. Blairsville will host the stage start for a third time (2005 and 2006) beginning at 11 a.m. The National Forest Service, which operates the visitor center at Brasstown Bald Mountain in Union County, expects more than 25,000 spectators to watch the final 3.12 miles of the race on this final climb, and to see the stage finish as early as 2:15 p.m., or close to 3 p.m., depending upon the weather and speed of the peloton.

The Tour de Georgia returns to Atlanta for a third time for Stage Seven on Sunday. There will be a new circuit race on the streets of the Capitol city, beginning and ending at Centennial Olympic Park. The peloton of professional cyclists will pass Woodruff Park, Bedford Place Park and the Georgia Institute of Technology. The grand finale of the Tour will be 62.7 miles (100.9 km) in length. Three Georgia Power Sprints will be held during intermediate laps at the start/finish line. From all along the circuit, spectators will see 10 full laps, each 6.3 miles (11.9 km).

Festivities and family entertainment will be scheduled all day at the Health and Wellness Expo in Centennial Olympic Park beginning at 1 p.m. The overall awards ceremony will take place in the park after the race finish, expected to be approximately 3:15-3:40 p.m.


Details and maps for all stages are available at the official website, www.tourdegeorgia.com.