The world's top sprinter, Britain's Mark Cavendish of Team Columbia-High Road, won three stages of the 2008 Tour of Missouri and is expected to return for 2009. - Photo by John Pierce, PHOTOSPORT International

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (April, 2009) Team Astana, widely considered the world's top stage racing team currently, recently agreed to join the elite field for the Tour of Missouri, a professional cycling race scheduled for September 7-13, 2009.

The Kazakhstan-registered Astana team joins previously announced top United States-based teams Garmin-Slipstream and Columbia-High Road, one of Italy's top pro tour teams Liquigas, as well as the Swiss-based Cervelo Test Team. Two Pro Tour teams, BMC Racing and Team Jelly Belly have also agreed to compete, bringing the total of committed teams to seven.

"This is a big development for the Tour of Missouri," said Chris Aronhalt, the managing partner of event organizer Medalist Sports. "To have the participation of Astana is yet another huge step for this race. The Tour of Missouri's reputation The world's top sprinter, Britain's Mark Cavendish of Team Columbia-High Road, won three stages of the 2008 Tour of Missouri and is expected to return for 2009. Jeff Louder is expected to join his BMC Racing teammates and defend his Drury Hotels Most Aggressive Rider jersey. is evidently very solid in the minds of the top teams and riders. To have Team Astana join the already great lineup of teams is good for all coming to see the 2009 Tour of Missouri."

Astana is the team of top Americans Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer. Their roster also includes 2007 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador of Spain, who raced in the inaugural Tour of Missouri, and Tour de France podium finisher Andres Kloden of Germany.

"We are very much looking forward to coming to the Tour of Missouri. We like to compete in the big American races," said Johan Bruyneel, the general manager of Team Astana. "The Tour of Missouri is a very good race and will be competitive this year looking at the initial roster of teams. As always, we will bring a very good team to compete for the win."

BMC, which always seems to animate the American races, is expected to be led by Jeff Louder, recently won the Redlands Cycling Classic. Louder was named the Drury Hotels Most Aggressive Rider overall in the 2008 Tour of Missouri.

Jelly Belly is expected to be led by Missouri-native and sprinter Bradley Huff. The overall course will start in St. Louis and end in Kansas City, routing more than 600 miles of the Show-Me State. Last year an estimated 435,000 spectators lined the roadside for the event; while people from 145 countries watched live coverage via the world webcast of the event.

A pair of Americans have won the first iterations of the race: Christian Vande Velde, who finished fourth overall in the Tour de France before winning in 2008; and George Hincapie, who won the inaugural race in 2007. Both Vande Velde and Hincapie are expected back with their Garmin-Slipstream and Columbia-High Road teams, respectively, this year.

"To welcome Team Astana to the field is great for the state," said Missouri Lt. Governor Peter Kinder. "Noting they are one of the world's best teams will surely draw large crowds and media attention to our state. It's another sign this race is growing into one of the premier cycling events in the world."

Though a stellar world-class field was presented last year, the three-year-old race is expected to be even better as the Tour of Missouri was granted an upgrade to one of the top five-ranked events outside Europe by international and national federation's for cycling. Additional teams will be announced in coming weeks.

According to Aronhalt, three to four more teams are expected to be announced by May with the final three to four wild card teams announced this summer. The team is in negotiations with several other European and North and South American teams.