ATLANTA, GA (BRAIN)—The annual Tour de Georgia cycling event and rolling festival will continue for a sixth season, April 21-27, 2008, but with new leadership this time around.
Owned by the not-for-profit Georgia Partnership for Economic Development (GPED), the event will now be governed by a reconstituted board of directors with the Georgia's Lt. Governor Casey Cagle serving as chairman.
Medalist Sports will continue as the logistics and operations management company for the Tour, led by Chris Aronhalt and Jim Birrell. Elizabeth Dewberry, who has worked with Cagle for five years, will be named as executive director of the Tour de Georgia and will manage the marketing, business operations and strategic partnerships. The current GPED Board is taking action to ratify these changes.
“The Tour de Georgia is an internationally known sporting event. It is the largest cycling race in the U.S. occurring just before the Tour de France. The Tour represents an excellent opportunity to bring the world to our state–and that is what we intend to do. Through aggressive marketing and strategic partnerships, we will add this event to the ranks of historic Georgia sporting events like The Masters and the Peachtree Road Race,” said Cagle, who was elected as Lt. Governor in 2006. “The cities we will select this year will exemplify all the special qualities and southern hospitality that make Georgia the greatest state in America. The race and activities focused around it in every community will encourage others to visit our state again and again—having a strong impact on our state’s tourism development and overall economy.”
The Tour de Georgia has enjoyed great success since its inception in 2003, attracting 2.8 million spectators to communities across the state and generating $148 million in economic impact in those five years.
