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Tour of Missouri Route press conference

As expected today at a press conference in Kansas City, Mo., the organizers of the Tour of Missouri bicycle race announced the host cities for the inaugural event. Here are some excerpts from the press release:

The cities of Kansas City, Clinton, Springfield, Branson, Lebanon, Columbia, Jefferson City, St. Charles, and St. Louis have been selected to play host to either a start and/or finish of the race.

“The Tour of Missouri is a great opportunity to showcase these towns and cities, and for Missouri as a whole,” Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt said. “I support the Tour of Missouri because of the economic and health benefits that Missouri can realize by hosting these professional, world-class athletes from the heart of Missouri’s largest cities to some of Missouri’s most scenic rural areas.”

The Tuesday through Sunday race breaks down as follows:

Stage 1, Kansas City to Kansas City, road race
The race will start in Missouri’s second largest city in Kansas City, Tuesday, Sept. 11, as cyclists will race an out-and-back course.

Stage 2, Clinton to Springfield, road race
After an auto transfer, Stage 2 will start in Clinton, the trailhead of Missouri’s famous Katy Trial cross-state bike path, and race to Missouri’s third-largest city Springfield, Wednesday, Sept. 12.

Stage 3, Branson, individual time trial
The caravan will make its way 40 miles south Thursday for an individual time trial in the hilly resort town of Branson, Thursday, Sept.r 13. For Stage 3, cyclists will race against the clock during this all-important “race of truth”, which could determine the overall winner.

Stage 4, Lebanon to Columbia, road race
The caravan transfer north to the agricultural town of Lebanon for the start of Stage 4, routing north to the collegiate town of Columbia, home to the University of Missouri, Friday, Sept. 14.

Stage 5, Jefferson City to St. Charles, road race
After a short auto transfer south, Stage 5 will start in Missouri’s capital Jefferson City and travel through the state’s wine region en route to the historic river city of St. Charles, Saturday, Sept. 15.

Stage 6, St. Louis, circuit race
The cross-state journey for the world’s top cyclists will finish in Missouri’s largest city, St. Louis, Sunday, Sept. 16. In the shadows of the arch, the race will have gone through more than 20 counties, 50 towns and cities, and covered about 600 miles.

“Missouri is an absolutely beautiful state for a professional cycling race of this nature. It has rich and varied terrain. I think cyclists will be surprised by the amount of hills in the state,” said Jim Birrell, the race’s director and managing partner of Medalist Sports, of whom also manage the Amgen Tour of California and Tour de Georgia. “The enthusiasm from state leaders in Jefferson City, to the civic leaders in the communities hosting this event, to the sports enthusiasts in Missouri really has been overwhelming. There already is a great grass roots buzz about this event. The event shows great promise and hasn’t even started yet.”

Exact locations of each start and finish line will be announced this spring. More than 120 world-class cyclists from more than 15 countries are expected to participate, along with one of the world’s top professional teams, the Discovery Channel team, owned by seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. The team features top Americans George Hincapie (the current U.S. Professional Champion), Levi Leipheimer (a three-time top 10 Tour de France finisher) and young star Tom Danielson, the winner of the 2005 Tour de Georgia.

For the full press release, visit the Tour of Missouri Web site, which also was updated today with a new look and some new features.

Will the Specialized Angel, Jana Ireton, be there? She's heard whispers she may spread her wings about Tour de Georgia, but she hasn't heard anything yet about the Tour of Missouri.

Labels: cycling, racing, Tour of Missouri

Roger 0 comments 5:07 PM