Brook Watts, promotion director, Tour of Missouri, said that many hills made the Tour of Missouri as difficult as the Tour de France.
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Tour of Missouri 2008 World-Class Cycling Event to Feature 15 Teams
by Bob Moore, SLFP.com
ST. LOUIS, MO, (SLFP.com), August 10, 2008 - After an exceptionally successful inaugural Tour of Missouri in 2007, the Show Me State will again welcome 120 of the world's elite cyclists on a 623-mile point-to-point race, to be held September 8 - 14, 2008.
The second Tour of Missouri will include seven days of racing, from Kansas City to the Ozarks, over the Katy Trail, along Route 66 and the historic Missouri River, with a fantastic finish under the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.
Last year's event drew a police-estimated 365,000 spectators over six days and provided $26.2 million of direct and indirect economic benefit for the state and its host cities.
Prior to a press conference, August 8, in the Rotunda of St. Louis City Hall, Brook Watts, promotion director, Tour of Missouri, provided highlights of the tour. "Many of the participants from the Tour de France, particularly the American Team, will be part of this year's Tour of Missouri," stated Watts. "The Garmin-Chipotle team is sending Christian Vande Velde, (originally from Chicago) who took fifth place. We'll also have Danny Pate, another American who took second on a stage, and then Will Frischkorn, from West Virginia, who raced in his first Tour de France and ended up third on one of the stages."
He said that the Columbia Sportswear Team is going to have George Hincapie, who won the Tour of Missouri last year and also rode in support of his teammates in the Tour de France.
Watts noted that the Tour of Missouri was as difficult as the Tour de France. "We don't have the mountains of France in Missouri, but we do have hills after hills after hills. So the guys may not ride a 20 mile mountain, but they'll do a 120 miles or racing going up one hill and down the other. At the end of the day, after six hours of riding, they will have done as much climbing as if they had climbed one of those French mountains," stated Watts.
In addition to Team Garmin-Chipotle of the United States and Team Liquigas of Italy, the Tour of Missouri will include: HealthNet presented by MAXXIS, the top team on America's pro circuit the past four years, along with up and coming teams BMC and Rock Racing, head the list of top U.S.-based squads added, along with Bissell, Colovita Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light, Jelly Belly, and Kelly Benefits Strategies-Medifast.
Mexico's top professional team Tecos and Canada's best squad Symmetrics, along with top European continental squads from Rabobank of the Netherlands and Sparkasse of Germany will participate. Rabobank is a top European-based club with both a Tour de France-level team and a younger development squad. Their development squad will be represented at Missouri.
All teams join the previously-announced participation of the world's top team, Columbia and Toyota-United, which will be led by their star sprinter Ivan Dominguez, who won two stages at last year's Tour of Missouri, and Dominque Rollin, who placed third overall last year.
Jim Grebing, director of tourism, City of Hermann, said they were excited about that opportunity to draw a lot of people into the historic town.
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The seven-day race starts in St. Joseph and routes to Missouri's largest town Kansas City with a relatively flat stage. Stage 2 will be a flat stage from Clinton to Springfield, which saw the decisive breakaway that launched Hincapie into the overall lead, which he kept the remainder of the race. Stage 3 is a decisive individual time trial around the mountains in the tourist mecca of Branson.
Stages 4, 5, and 6 all will be hilly and play a role in the overall outcome of the 623-mile race, according to race director Jim Birrell. Stage 4 will start in Lebanon and route to first-time host city Rolla in central Missouri. The stage, which is on September 11th, will route through Fort Leonard Wood Military Reservation to honor and acknowledge American troops. Stage 5 will go from the wine-country town of St. James to finish in Missouri's capital of Jefferson City.
Stage 6 starts in another wine-country town Hermann, September 13, and routes to the historic river city of St. Charles.
According to Jim Grebing, director of tourism, City of Hermann, they were excited about drawing a lot of people into the historic town. "We drew a great crowd last year as a pass through city, and this year with all the festivities related to being a start city and especially with all the teams, we think it'll be a special opportunity to showcase Hermann to the world. We think a lot of people will choose Hermann to come and watch the race.
Grebing said that seven wineries in and around Hermann make up the Hermann Wine Trail. "What is unique about some of the wineries including Stonehill, Hermannof and Adam Puchta is that we have some of the oldest wineries in the United States and certainly in Missouri."
Stage 7, Sunday, September 14th, will feature the circuit used from last year's final stage in St. Louis, but will have several new features. The race will be moved from Union Station to a start and finish in front of City Hall on Tucker and Market Streets. See archived story: Tour of Missouri Race Was a Champagne Finish in St. Louis.
Tour Schedule:
- STAGE 1 / Monday, September 8 - St. Joseph to Kansas City, road race, with 3 finish circuits (90 mi / 144.81 km) / Start: 12:30 pm / Finish: 4:30 pm
- STAGE 2 / Tuesday, September 9 - Clinton to Springfield, road race, with 3 finish circuits (125 mi / 201.13 km) / Start: 11:00 am / Finish: 3:30 pm
- STAGE 3 / Wednesday, September 10 - Branson, individual time trial (18 mi / 28.6 km) / Start (first rider): 11:00 am / Finish: 2:00 pm
- STAGE 4 / Thursday, September 11 - Lebanon to Rolla, road race (105 mi / 168.95 km) / Start: 11:00 am / Finish: 3:15 pm
- STAGE 5 / Friday, September 12 - St. James to Jefferson City, road race, with 3 three circuits (100 mi / 160.9 km) / Start: 2:00 pm / Finish: 6:30 p.m.
- STAGE 6 / Saturday, September 13 - Hermann to St. Charles, road race (110 mi / 177 km) / Start: 12:30 pm / Finish: 4:15 pm
- STAGE 7 / Sunday, September 14 - St. Louis, circuit race, five laps (75 mi / 120.68 km) / Start: 2:00 pm / 4:45 pm
Missouri Tourism is the presenting sponsor of the event. Top level sponsors include Anheuser-Busch (and their Michelob ULTRA brand), Drury Hotels, Emerson, Edward Jones, Missouri Farm Bureau, Missouri Wine and Grape Board, Cerner and Monsanto.
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