Tour de Georgia organizers are scrambling to find $1 million in sponsorships to keep the professional bicycle race on track for next month, but they remain hopeful the event will happen.
Rome is among the host cities for the race. It is both a destination and starting point for two stages of the 2007 Tour that will also touch Rockmart and SummerÂville on April 17 and18 and then move farther north.
Craig Lesser, board member of the Georgia Partnership for Economic Development, said the 2007 race may have to be pared down unless more sponsorship money comes in.
United Community Banks Inc. stepped up this fall and signed on as a major two-year sponsor of the Tour de Georgia, but a title sponsor is still lacking, Lesser said.
"We are at a stage now where I think it would be awfully difficult to expect that someone is going to come in with $1 million," he said. "We are hoping -- with this last-minute plea across the state -- that others who are aware of the economic crunch we are in will step up and help us make this race a reality."
So the Georgia Partnership for Economic Development, which owns the Tour de Georgia, is seeking smaller sponsorships from corporate donors.
"If a company wanted to put in $25,000, we would be pleased," he said. "We can't just wait for one sponsor to bail us out."
For now, the race is still coming to host cities, Lesser said, but it may arrive in a scaled-down form if funding falls short.
"That is certainly an option," he said. "I am optimistic that we will have the full Tour de Georgia this year. I believe in taking a very positive approach to this.
"It's an extraordinary race. But we have got to have those sponsors come forward."
It's estimated that since 2003 the tour has drawn 2.3 million spectators and generated a $121 million impact on the Georgia economy.
The statewide event has pumped more than $5 million into Rome's economy since its debut, said Lisa Smith, executive director with the Greater Rome Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The highlight of the race came in 2005, when cycling legend Lance Armstrong participated.
Rome hosted a stage finish as well as a time trial that year, and Armstrong's appearance brought more than $3 million to the local economy, Smith said.
"The trickle down effect of not having an event of this magnitude would be devastating," she said. "It is an international event that really gets our community involved and showcases Rome to the world."
Losing the race also would hurt the Georgia Cancer Coalition, which gets its funding from Tour de Georgia proceeds.
"I feel very certain that someone will step up to the plate and support this race," Smith said. "Not only will their dollars help this race move forward, but it will help this state to continue defeating cancer. And there is no better reason than that to support this."
The tour has grown for its fifth edition this year. The 2007 version is slated to cover 667 miles in seven days, making it the longest in the history of the event and one of the longest professional stage races in the United States.
Click here for a video from the route announcement press conference.
Click here for the Tour de Georgia Web site.
Click here for a previous story about the Tour de Georgia route.
Click here for a map of Stage 2.
Click here for a map of Stage 3.
Click here for a map of the handcycle route.
Click here for a previous story about premium ticket packages.
Click here for a previous story about United Community Bank's sponsorship of Tour de Georgia.
