Dud3s

I'm a big fan of cycling, but I'll have to settle for watching the Tour of Georgia on OLN (or whatever it's called now).

Unfortunately, I think that OLN (now Versus) will only have a one day wrap up of the TdG. I wish they would do stage by stage coverage.

I'll post my photos from the Brasstown Bald stage on Flickr, so watch for those.

I will watch whatever coverage I can on OLN, er, Vs. I honestly can't believe that the TdG can't find a title sponsor. Unfortunately, it seems like the "Lance Effect" has passed and US based races/teams are scrambling for sponsorships again.

I suggest you really enjoy it if you get to go this year because I somehow doubt the race will be around much longer. Then again, I may just be bitter that the City of Philadelphia didn't save the US Pro Championships when First Union/Wachovia pulled out as title sponsor.

I was in Dahlonega, GA last year when one of the legs ended there, it was exciting and packed, but that was Dahlonega where there's not much excitement on a daily basis.

I got a cool picture of the riders too: here

I really think the Tour of California sucked the wind out of the sails of the Tour de Georgia. Not sure Georgia resonates with the rest of the world as a bastion of cycling. Maybe the U.S. just can't sustain two world class road stage races?

goclipless,
You hit it right on. I think that cali found the niche that Georgia was looking to fill. The get all the euro pros who want to take a vacation in America. It's easy to sell a stage race in Cali, but getting non-US based teams to come to Georgia seems much, much harder.

Rich, I don’t know if the TdG will be around in future years or not, but I was glad that the Georgia Department of Economic Development stepped up at the last minute to provide the needed funds to stage the race this year. I think that shows how important the race is to the state. Philly probably should have done the same with the US Pro race, but for selfish reasons I’m glad that it moved here to Greenville. But hey, that is a whole separate discussion.

Alday, nice shot. I have some shots from last years race on flickr as well.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jctdesign/tags/tourdegeorgia/

Graham and Hysbrian, What? Are you guys saying that Georgia is not the center of the road cycling universe? Man, that is tough news to take. Seriously though, I see your point, but those rolling North Georgia mountains do make for good road racing. I did a time trial to the top of Brasstown Bald many years ago. It was very short (5 miles I think), but it was still one of the hardest time trials I have ever done. You have to experience that climb in person to know how steep it is. I enjoy watching the Pros make the last climb look easy as I think back to myself swerving all over the road as I approached the finish line. Uphill finishes are something that the ToC is missing. I really hope that the TdG stays around, but it very well might not. If the US can support only one stage race it will be Cali, but I still believe that there is room for both on the U.S. racing schedule.

Few points here:

I do think that the U.S. racing schedule can support both. I think that the key here is U.S. I could see Cali being the race that only two or three of the best domestic teams get into, while Georgia becomes the tour de france for all domestic teams. I would love to see that but it has become too expensive (the entry fee is something around 20K) for many teams to consider. So in a sense they are killing themselves.

I think that ToC is made easy (i.e. no uphill finishes) to support overall viewer friendliness. I've heard that BB is a killer of a climb though!

I posted a few of my pictures from the race on Flickr.

Check them out here if you are interested:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jctdesign/tags/tourdegeorgia07/

Funny enough I watched a bit of the Tour de Georgia, though it wasn't a planned event on our part. My wife and I went to visit her brother in Atlanta this past Sunday. He was staying at the Holiday Inn, which happened to be right next to the finish line. We lingered for a little bit around the event.

We were impressed with the turn out. I don't follow bike racing so have no history with which to compare it to, but I thought it was a well attended event. People seemed into it, lots of stuff going on. Seemed like a pretty well put together and fun happening to me.

Again, I don't know jack about bike racing, but it did seem a bit cruel to put the Finish Line on a modest, but long uphill climb.

Hi Griffin, I thought Sunday's race in Atlanta was well attended too. You don't have to be a cycling fan to enjoy the festive atmosphere.

Actually, the uphill finish was probably a good thing from the riders stand point. With a sprint finish, a down hill finish would have been more dangerous due to the higher speeds.