The racers, including Lance Armstrong, will race in stages from Augusta to Macon on Tuesday; Fayetteville to Rome, Wednesday; spend the day in Rome Thursday for a time trial; race across the mountains from Dalton to Dahlonega Friday; Gainesville to Brasstown Bald, Saturday; and Blairsville to Alpharetta, Sunday.
Helen Fincher of the Gainesville-Hall County Convention and Visitors Bureau says having Armstrong in the race is a real coup, especially for places such as Gainesville.
"It brings a lot of prestige to the Gainesville community, being a 'start' city (a place where one of the legs of the race begins)."
The public will have a chance to get "up close and personal" withe Armstrong and the other racers before they leave Gainesville at noon Saturday:
"They are available for autographs the hour before they begin racing," Fincher said.
The downtown festivities surrounding the Tour de Georgia will include the first Corkscrew Festival, a celebration of wine, food and art , which will take place from 10 a.m. 'til 5 p.m. downtown.
The Festival will include wine tastings from various local wine makers , The Chicken City Ale Raisers Chicken City Cook-off (a chicken cooking contest), an open-air artists market featuring local artists of all kinds, live entertainment, activities for children and other events.
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