Dalton to welcome 15 cycling teams

Published 10:03 pm Thursday, March 9, 2006

Fifteen professional cycling teams from around the world will pedal their way around the state next month in the Ford Tour de Georgia and Dalton will again be a start city for stage four of the six-stage race.

“It’s a very exciting event and a great tourism attraction,” said Mayor Ray Elrod after a press conference at city hall Thursday.

The tour kicks off April 18 in Augusta and will race north toward the more mountainous half of the state. The April 21 start of stage four in Dalton will mark the beginning of the mountain stage, which is when teams “really start their engines,” said Chris Aronhalt of Medalist Sports, the company responsible for the Georgia race.

The slogan for this year’s event is “The grand Europe tours start here” and Aronhalt said most of the top cycling teams in the world really look at Georgia as a measure of their ability because the mountains here make for a good test.

“Dalton and the community has really been an anchor for the Tour de Georgia,” he said. “This is the best race in North America and it competes with many races in Europe.”

The starting gun for stage four will be fired by Elrod at 10:30 a.m. and racers will make their way from downtown toward Chatsworth and Ellijay, through six counties, and end in Dahlonega between 3 and 4 p.m.

The 119-mile section will take cyclists over Fort Mountain and Wolfpen Gap, both category two climbs, and Woody Gap, a category three climb.

Mountain climbs are classified according to their length and the average gradient of the road’s incline. Category four is the easiest, followed by 3, 2, 1, and the Hors-Categorie, which is the hardest.

This is the fourth consecutive year Dalton has been a start city and the route will be the same as last year, according to Janet Cochran, executive director for the Dalton Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The cyclists are “more laid back” and will be signing autographs and meeting fans at Autograph Alley before the race, said Cochran. Autograph Alley will be near the starting point for the stage on Hamilton Street.

“It’s a good chance to meet people. Who knows who the next Lance Armstrong will be?” she said, referring to seven-time Tour de France and 2004 Tour de Georgia winner.

Tom Danielson, the 2005 Tour de Georgia winner, will be defending his title this year, but “we’re not expecting Lance,” said Aronhalt. Danielson races for the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling team, the same team Armstrong was a member of.

The tour will end in Alpharetta on April 23. Last year, nearly 80,000 people were in Alpharetta for the race’s conclusion and officials expect about the same number this year.

According to the tour Web site, www.fordtourgeorgia.com, nearly 800,000 people from other states and countries came to Georgia to watch part of the race.

The city of Dalton hosted cycling fans from 35 states and 12 countries last year, said Elrod, who explained the exact economic impact from previous years was unknown, but that Dalton State College will be working with the city this year to try and put a number on it.

Dalton is one of 12 host cities which will offer special events and various activities. In addition to Autograph Alley, the Georgia Department of Human Resources and Georgia Cancer Coalition will be presenting the “Live Healthy Georgia Expo.” The expo is an effort to inform spectators about cancer and other chronic disease prevention, using games and similar activities.

The expo will have booths set up on Hamilton Street near the starting point of the stage.

The Cancer Coalition, a nonprofit organization which promotes cancer awareness, education, early detection, prevention and treatment, is the official beneficiary of the Tour de Georgia.

Cancer is the number one cause of death in Georgia and 30 percent of cancer cases could have been prevented, according to Angie Patterson, a representative for the coalition.

“There is so much we don’t know about cancer,” she said. “But there is so much we do know. We know that 36,000 Georgians will (be diagnosed) this year. We know that 16,000 will die.”

All proceeds raised for the coalition by the tour will go toward research, education, care and prevention.

“The Tour de Georgia is a wonderful venue” to education many people about cancer, said Patterson.