US cycling race, the Tour de Georgia, will not be held in 2009 due to lack of interest from sponsors, organisers have said.
Created in 2003, the Tour has failed to secure regular sponsors since Lance Armstrong's retirement in 2005.
In a statement on the Tour’s website board member, Tom Saddlemire, said: "We believe that this unique and exciting event will endure. We have decided to use 2009 as a time to plan ahead and properly position the Tour de Georgia to make the best use of the new partnerships we forged during the 2008 Tour de Georgia Presented by AT&T, such as our relationships with Blue Cross Blue Shield and Road Atlanta."
In recent years, the Tour of California has supplanted the Tour de Georgia as the premier US stage race, which is thought to have added to the organisers sponsorship problems. It is hoped that the race will return to the international calendar in 2010.
