Hold the phone! A couple of months after T-Mobile hangs up on cycling, AT&T increases its presence in the sport.
The giant communications company has signed on as the presenting sponsor for the 6th annual Tour de Georgia, which runs from April 21-27. That's peachy because the race didn't have a major sponsor last year and was in danger of being cancelled.
What's ironic is that another communications industry player, T-Mobile, ended its sponsorship of a pro cycling team at the end of the season because of bad publicity involving team members and doping.
That team is now Team High Road, with George Hincapie riding at the helm.
No title sponsor
The Tour de Georgia lost its major sponsor last year and had to seek money from state coffers to keep going. AT&T was one of several Founding Partner sponsors that year, with naming rights to a particular stage's overall jersey winner.
This year, the race will be known as the “Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T.”
In case you forget, you'll see the Tour de Georgia website has been rebranded to reflect the new partnership.
The race is owned by the Tour de Georgia Foundation, a nonprofit. Georgia Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle is the foundation chairman.
The 12 host cities for the bike race were announced in December.
Meanwhile, at least one host city for the Amgen Tour of California — Palo Alto — is having difficulty raising the necessary funds to host the opening prologue of the race.
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