Wednesday, April 21, 2004

Lance comes to Georgia to prepare for Tour de France

If you want to see Lance Armstrong ride his bike this week, you’ll have to either go to work late on Thursday or make a trek up to Athens on Saturday morning. The closest Armstrong and the U.S. Postal team will get to Fayette County is when the race begins stage three Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in Carrollton.

The race began Tuesday with an 82-mile stage race that began and ended in Macon. Today, the racers will start in Thomaston and race close to 118 miles to Columbus with the first two King of the Mountain climbs in the Callaway/Pine Mountain area. After Stage three, which starts in Carrollton and finishes in Rome, there will also be an 18.6 individual time trial in Rome. On Friday, stage five leaves from Dalton and includes five King of the Mountain climbs en route to the finish of the stage in Dahlonega. Stage six leaves Athens on Saturday morning at 10 a.m.and heads to Hiawassee/Young Harris. The stage finishes with a mountaintop finish on Brasstown Bald Mountain. Stage seven begins in the foothills of the Appalachians in Dawsonville at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The race continues south, finishing with a blistering four-mile circuit Grand Finale on the streets of Alpharetta.

This is an incredible opportunity to see one of the world’s greatest and most inspiring athletes. For more information, including recommended places to watch the race from, maps and more, visit www.tourdegeorgia.org.