Tour de Belleville: Riders up, sponsors down

The Tour de Belleville committee will announce in about eight weeks how much the ride raised this year, and what safety equipment it will purchase for the city.

The fourth annual Tour de Belleville boasted 1,609 riders, about 200 riders more than last year, organizer Phil Elmore stated in a Tuesday news release.

"It was much tougher this year finding corporate sponsors because of the economy, even though we had a great amount of riders our sponsorship was definitely down," Elmore stated. "But we're hopeful for two emergency call-button towers."

A limited supply of T-shirts left over from Friday's ride are on sale for $10 each at the Parks and Recreation Department, 510 W. Main St. Orange "Road Crew" and "Lime in '09" Tour de Belleville shirts are available.