The 2009 Tour of Missouri could feature a mano a mano battle between two former champions as their respective teams have agreed to compete in the Sept. 7-13 bicycle race across Missouri.

Columbia-High Road, the team of 2007 champion George Hincapie, and Garmin-Slipstream, home to 2008 champion Christian Vande Velde, have both accepted invitations to the race.

Two other top pro squads, Italy's Liquigas and Switzerland's Cervelo, also have confirmed for the seven-stage race ...   more »

Pro cyclists competing at the third annual Tour of Missouri this September will be generally heading west for the first time.

The 7-stage bicycle race rolls out Sept. 7-13 from St. Louis to Kansas City, opposite the usual direction of the race.

The 11 cities that will host a start or finish line (or both) at the race are St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, Cape Girardeau, Farmington, Rolla, St. James, Jefferson City, Sedalia, Chillicothe, St. Joseph and Kansas City ...   more »

The Tour of Missouri returns for the third straight year in 2009, rolling out Sept. 7-13.

Although the announcement about host cities and tentative routes will be made in January, it's just good to know that the week-long Missouri race will return this year.

The Tour de Georgia has announced that it won't return in 2009. It's getting sponsors together to make a return in 2010, however.

Tour of Missouri promoters say the UCI has ranked the bike race as a Category 2HC event. The only other "above category" cycling event in the US is the Tour of California in February.

The second Tour of Missouri bike race that ended in St. Louis on Sunday drew more spectators than last year. Is that enough to guarantee its return?

Absolutely not. In a sport that doesn't rely on tickets sales, bicycle race organizers always have to worry about landing a major sponsor. In spite of the Tour of Georgia's popularity, for instance, the race is a question mark until a sponsor is found.

Missouri has been lucky because its major cheerleader is also the lieutenant governor, Peter Kinder. But that luck may be running out as Kinder is up for reelection this year and his opponent is against state support of the bicycle race ...   more »

The US professional cycling season started for Christian Vande Velde with a visit to the podium after he finished third overall in the Tour of California in February.

The year is drawing to a close with Vande Velde on the top step of  the podium as he wins the 2008 Tour of  Missouri by protecting his lead during the 7th Stage in St. Louis on Sunday.

Joining the 32-year-old Garmin Chipotle cyclist on the podium were Michael Rogers of Team Columbia and Svein Tuft of Symmetrics. The two finished behind Vande Velde by the same margin -- 18 seconds for Rogers and 48 seconds for Tuft -- they held since Vande Velde won the Stage 3 time trial on Wednesday to take over the race lead.

Last year's winner George Hincapie of Team Columbia finished in 4th, trailing by 1:03. ....   more »

Ivan Dominguez, the Cuban Missile of Toyota-United, is the latest sprinter to fall victim to Mark Cavenish at the 2008 Tour of Missouri.

Cavendish owns three stage wins at the Tour of Missouri so far; his first stage wins on US soil. His victory on Saturday marks 18 for Team Columbia's Cavenish, including four at the Tour de France.

Team Columbia has worked all year at getting the 23-year-old British sprinter to the front of the pack where he can launch himself over the line. The finish for the 96-mile bike race from Hermann to St. Charles was no exception ...   more »

Rabobank finished 1st and 2nd in the sprint finish in Jefferson City on Friday, while Garmin Chipotle's Christian Vande Velde finished safely in the peloton to hold onto the yellow jersey for another day at the 2008 Tour of Missouri.

Although Team Columbia set the pace going into the final lap for Mark Cavendish, they couldn't control several attacks other cyclists that created a free-for-all of failed bids at the end.

Boy Van Poppel (the Netherlands) won the sprint, followed closely by teammate Michael van Stayen (Belgium).

If the name Van Poppel is familiar, it's because Boy is the son of Jean-Paul Van Poppel ...   more »

Team Columbia's Michael Barry can boast of a solo victory at the Tour of Missouri after attacking on the final circuits and winning by a comfortable margin.

Christian Vande Velde of  Garmin-Chipotle sprinted in with the chase group, finishing in 4th place on the day and holding onto the overall leader's yellow jersey for another day. Last year's winner George Hincapie finished in that chase group also, but didn't contest the sprint....   more »

2008 is certainly Christian Vande Velde's coming out party.

A day in the pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia, fifth place finish in the Tour de France (4th in the final time trial), and now he's put everyone on notice that he's the man to beat at the Tour of Missouri.

The 32-year-old cyclist on Garmin-Chipotle won the 18-mile individual time trial around Branson on Wednesday, catapulting him into first place by a 21-second margin over Australia's Michael Rogers of Team Columbia.

He outdid defending champion George Hincapie, who is now sitting in fourth place, by 1:03. ....   more »

Chalk up Stages 1 and 2 of the Tour of Missouri to Mark Cavendish, the amazing British sprinter on US-based Team Columbia.

Stage 3 will be a different story, however, as the 18-mile individual time trial around Branson isn't expected to be the Brit's strong suit.

Teammate George Hincapie is a strong time trialist and Wednesday could be his day to launch his defense of last year's Tour of Missouri title. He'll be facing strong competition from two Garmin-Chipotle cyclists -- Christian Vande Velde and David Zabriskie, who successfully defended his US pro cycling time trial championship over Labor Day weekend. ...   more »

The Brit who's been winning sprints on his bicycle all across Europe this spring and summer is doing so in North America now.

Mark Cavendish, the 23-year-old cycling phenom for US-based Team Columbia, won Stage 1 of the Tour of Missouri in windy and wet Kansas City on Monday.

His dash for the finish in the 90-mile race from St. Joseph to Kansas City marked his 16th win of the season, including four at the Tour de France. Team Garmin Chipotle's Tyler Farrar of Wenatchee, Washington, finished a close second ......   more »

Spanish cyclist Egoi Martinez joined a breakaway and gained just enough time to take the overall leader's golden jersey from Levi Leipheimer, who lost it for the second time on Stage 9 of the Vuelta a Espana on Monday.

Reports suggest that Leipheimer's Astana team miscalculated and allowed the 11-man escape group to get too much of a lead before starting the chase ....   more »

The 2008 Tour of Missouri rolls out for 7 stages beginning Monday, and there are plenty of opportunities to watch if you can't station yourself at the roadside somewhere between St. Joseph and St. Louis.

There is free, live online video streaming, evening summaries on midwestern sports cable networks, "play-by-play" coverage at the cycling websites, and a new social media site where fans can chat and post their images from the race.

For starters, Universal Sports is providing free, live streaming video coverage of each stage with commentary. Replays are available after the race. Universal relaunched this month and has been streaming Tour of Germany, and the Univest Grand Prix, among other sports events. Check out the Universal cycling schedule for details (times are ET).    more »

One hundred and 47 years after the last Pony Express rider saddled up for the 11-day ride from Sacramento to St. Joseph, two endurance cyclists are following that route.

The two, Spencer Klaassen and Dan Clinkinbeard, are bicycling the 1,800 miles on their own between the two cities that will host the opening of the 2009 Tour of California and the 2008 Tour of Missouri.

They left Sacramento (that's the Pony Express statue I shot in Old Town this winter) on Aug. 24 and were shooting for Marysville, Kansas, before stopping on Friday. The pair expect the trip will take two weeks and will put them in St. Joseph by the beginning of the 2008 Tour of Missouri. ...   more »

The Tour of Britain's loss will be the Tour of Missouri's gain.

The UK's Mark Cavendish, left, will be racing at the Tour of Missouri -- Sept. 8-14 --  instead of at the Tour of Britain as previously expected, Team Columbia's director sportif Allan Pieper has confirmed.

He'll certainly add to the excitement raised by the expected duel for the yellow jersey between Americans George Hincapie and Christian Vande Velde ...   more »

They're back. Team Columbia and Garmin-Chipotle are returning to the Tour of Missouri in 2008 under new names but with the same objective to win.

Organizers for the second annual Tour of Missouri announced all 15 cycling teams that will compete in the Sept. 8-14 bicycle race. The list includes four that just wrapped up three weeks at the Tour de France.

Team Columbia appeared as T-Mobile last year. This year, the team includes defending champion George Hincapie who won the inaugural race as a member of the Discovery Channel team ...   more »

The Tour of Missouri announced the route for 2008, which offers one more day of bicycle racing and some new roads.

The 2nd annual race rolls out Sept. 8-14 this year, featuring 120 cyclists and 15 pro teams.

The organizers are making a lot out of the new courses, but I'm frankly surprised that so many of the routes are "remakes" from last year. Don't most of the popular stage races feature new courses every year (at least different routes) to keep the race fresh and to show off different parts of their state or country?

The added stage this year means more hills overall. Those Ozarks can be killer. ...   more »

Although it's only May, George Hincapie says he'll defend his title in the upcoming Tour of Missouri scheduled Sept. 8-14.

Hincapie won the inaugural Missouri stage bike race last year as a member of the Discovery Channel pro cycling team. He's now a member of Team High Road, officially registered in San Luis Obispo, California.

Hincapie recently finished the Tour of Georgia, where High Road teammate Kanstantin Sivtsov won the race with a decisive attack on Brasstown Bald ....   more »

A dozen cities will host starts or finishes at the second annual Tour of Missouri that rolls our for 7 days in 2008 from Sept. 8 through Sept. 14.

The 623-mile pro bicycle race begins on Monday in St. Joseph with a 90-mile stage race to Kansas City. It ends Sunday at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis with a circuit race.

Once again the racers will pedal the hills around Branson for the individual time trial, but they won't visit one of last year's cities -- Columbia -- at all...   more »

Tour of Missouri on Versus cable network: 4-6 p.m. (ET) Wednesday

Photo by Tamara Painter
Young fans meet racers

One of the major goals of the Tour of Missouri bike race this year was to boost tourism to the Show Me state.

But the bicycle race had the spillover effect of introducing a lot of folks to professional cyclists and winning a slight measure of respect for those who ride their bikes on Missouri's streets.

Blog reader Jack Painter wrote to me after the race that his family members were thrilled to meet many of the racers. And Kansas City Star columnist Bill Graham writes that following the race, "We need to keep working on making bicycling a bigger pastime in our communities." ...   more »

There's something very odd going on with the Discovery Channel pro cycling team at the Tour of Missouri.

This year's winner of the Tour de France, Alberto Contador, is working as a domestique to the Tour's yellow jersey wearer, George Hincapie. When's that last time that happened on this team? What a difference two months can make.

After retaining the yellow jersey after Stage 4 on Friday, Hincapie told VeloNews:

"Everyone is working well. I have the reigning Tour de France champion bringing me bottles. That's not a normal thing, but it's a great honor to lead the race. I will do everything I can to keep the jersey." ...   more »

Here's an image of George Hincapie by the Spare Cycles blog author Ken Conley, a cycling photographer based in California who made the trip to Missouri to shoot the race.

It's certainly great to see Hincapie in yellow for the second day at the Tour of Missouri, especially considering the hard-luck bumps his career occasionally takes. (Ken has more pix at kwc at flickr.com .)

On Thursday's 18-mile individual time trial around Branson, Hincapie finished in 6th place, but that was good enough to not only retain the lead but put a 1-minute-40 margin over second place William Fischkorn of Slipstream in the overall standings.

The winner on the day was Discovery Channel teammate Levi Leipheimer, who added Wednesday's win to ITT victories at the Tour of California, Tour de Georgia and Tour de France this year. ...   more »