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Italian Stampedes to Stage 6 Win at 2009 Tour of Missouri

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Chicchi from Liquigas Wins Stage 6 of the Tour of Missouri
Photo by Greg Chang - Photosport International

Official Results

ST. JOSEPH, MO − (September 12, 2009) – Resembling the stride of the Pony Express horse and rider depicted on a bronze statue at the finish line, Italian Francesco Chicchi (Liquigas-Cannondale) powered his way to the victory at Stage 6, presented by Wind Capital Group, in St. Joseph, Mo. Chicchi finished the 110.3-mile (177.5 km) stage in a time of 3 hours, 41 minutes, 41 seconds, nosing out Norway's Thor Hushovd (Cervelo Test Team) and Argentina's Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Colavita/Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light), who finished second and third, respectively. Race leader David Zabriskie (Garmin-Slipstream) finished in the main field, and retained the overall race lead.

"Of course, I love racing in the states. Everything's bigger. Big open roads and everything's wider. I love it," said Chicchi, a former World Under-23 Road Race champion (2002) who won the final stage of the Tour of Missouri last year. Today he received a special Pony Express statue from St. Joseph Mayor Ken Shearin.

"We were going 52K (kilometers per hour) for the first part of the race. So, we were flying all day. Only at the Tour de France do you see something like this," added the stage winner through an interpreter. The peloton averaged 29.85 miles per hour (48 km/h) for the day, making Stage 6 the fastest stage of any at the Tour of Missouri.

 

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Dave Zabriskie Retains Yellow Jersey
Photo by John Pierce - Photosport International
Stage 6, presented by Wind Capital Group, began at 1:00 pm in Chillicothe, situated in the rolling hills of northern Missouri and home to the first bread slicing machine for the town's nickname of "Home of Sliced Bread". Just before the first Edward Jones Sprint Line in Gallatin and close to 40 miles into the road race, Great Britain's Jeremy Hunt (Cervelo Test Team) launched a solo attack, which lasted for 30 miles. Garmin-Slipstream stayed at the front of the peloton all day, reeling in a number of attacks to protect the yellow jersey on Zabriskie's shoulders. A number of unsuccessful attacks took place along the rolling, tree-lined roadways, including a tough surge up a three-mile Michelob Ultra KOM climb on the outskirts of St. Joseph, home of the famous horseback mail service in the 1800's.

For his solo breakaway early in Stage 6, Hunt was awarded the Drury Hotels Most Aggressive Rider jersey. The other award jerseys remained the same: Zabriskie with the Missouri Tourism Leader's Jersey, Hushovd with the Edward Jones Sprint jersey, Dario Cataldo (QuickStep) of Italy with the 180 Energy/ Icelandic Glacial Water Best Young Rider jersey, and Moises Aldape (Team Type I) of Mexico with the Michelob Ultra KOM jersey.

There were no changes to the G.C. today. Zabriskie retains a 30-second lead in the general classification (G.C.) in front of Gustav Larsson (Saxo Bank) and a 44-second lead over Tom Zirbel (Bissell Pro Cycling). Levi Leipheimer (Astana) is in 6th overall in the G.C., 1'14" behind the race leader. Three riders did not finish today's stage – Italian Davide Malacarne (QuickStep), Belgian Jurgen Van de Walle (QuickStep) and Canadian Charly Vives (Planet Energy).

"Tomorrow is another difficult day of concentration. I am really enjoying the moment. I am having a great time, and I'm on cloud nine," Zabriskie said at the post-race press conference about wearing the Missouri Tourism Leader's jersey into the Kansas City.

Sunday brings the final day of racing to the 2009 Tour of Missouri, Stage 6, presented by Cerner. A 71.4-mile (114.9 km) circuit race will begin at 2:00 p.m. in downtown Kansas City, with a field of 112 competitors riding seven laps of 10.2 miles each. There will be four Michelob Ultra KOMs contested (Kessler Road and Summit Street) and two Edward Jones Sprint points awarded (at start/finish on Lap 1 and Lap 3). Viewing parties are planned at both of the KOM climbs, and special festivities at the start/finish at Union Station on Grand Avenue.