DETROIT, MI — The Tour de Troit annual bike ride has grown exponentially since it began in 2001.

The event drew 50 participants during its inception race and has grown into a community attraction that featured 6,500 riders last year, making it the largest bike ride in Michigan.

Vittoria Katanski, co-director of Tour de Troit, said 7,500 participants are expected at this year’s Sept. 20 ride that goes for 30 or 62 miles, depending on your route. Over 2,500 have already signed up.

Since 2005, the Tour de Troit ride has raised over $180,000 for the greenways network and non-motorized transportation projects in Detroit.

“Cycling in the city has been on the up-rise,” Katanski said. “It has become more visible to other people, too, and it’s providing an alternate method of transportation. Sharing the road is a very important thing for the city and for the people that visit.”

This year’s ride also marks the first time it will have a presenting sponsor: Flagstar Bank.

“It’s a great fit for us as a local community bank and the largest bank headquartered in the state,” Thomas Pitkin, Flagstar director of marketing wrote to MLive in an email. “We love events like this that directly benefit Detroit. The bikers and everyone involved are so passionate about our city. We were a sponsor the past two years; and with the growth of the event, we decided to come back this year in a bigger way.”

Katanski said the sponsorship will help offset some of the costs to run the event, including a $100,000 police bill to patrol the ride.

“In order to continue our mission in giving back and growing the community, it is real important for us to offset some of the costs of the event,” she said. “I think the significance of having them as a partner, it’s the first time we’ve grown the event to the point where we’ve gotten such a large sponsor to come aboard.”

Like last year, the event will begin and end at Roosevelt Park in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood.

The route will be similar to last year’s, but some changes will be made to avoid M-1 rail construction and other potential obstacles.

Katanski said she met with city officials last week and will be following up in the next week to try and finalize a route in the near future.

Food, drink and music will be available after the race at Roosevelt Park in the shadow of the Michigan Central Station.

Registration is available at www.tour-de-troit.org. The cost is $45 until Aug. 31; $50 Sept. 1-10 and $70 on-site.