One extra day, more hills and three new courses
to challenge world-class cyclists in September
“The Cuban Missile”, Ivan Dominguez of the Toyota United team, won two stages last year and will return to the Tour of Missouri for the 2008 race. Photo by John Pierce - PhotoSport International
June 23, 2008 (St. Louis)
(Click HERE for Printable Version)
A ‘deceivingly tougher’ Tour of Missouri will challenge the field of 120 worldclass cyclists from 15 elite professional teams when they line up for the September 8th – 14th Tour of Missouri, race organizers announced today in the overall race finish city St. Louis. Each of the seven courses for the weeklong event were announced by Missouri Lt. Governor Peter Kinder, race director Jim Birrell and two time stage winner Ivan Dominguez of the U.S.’s top domestic squad Toyota United Pro Cycling Team.
“Again, the great state of Missouri will play host to these worldclass athletes from more than 20 countries this September,” said Lt. Governor Kinder. “This year, we’ve worked to make the course more challenging and with a few new twists, including new terrain, new cities, homage to our Armed Forces on September 11th and another grand finale in St. Louis.”
After several preevents in the Kansas City metro area, Stage 1, Monday, September 8th, will start in new host city St. Joseph, and pose a bigger challenge for cyclists through rolling terrain along the Missouri River before a circuit finish in Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza district for the second straight year.
Stage 2, Tuesday, September 9th, will be the most flat but longest stage, routing from Clinton to Springfield. It is a remake of last year’s course, which proved to be the decisive stage of the race after a long breakaway put race champion George Hincapie into the race lead for good.
Stage 3, Wednesday, September 10th, remakes last year’s time trial course in Branson, and has been cited as perhaps the most pivotal stage of the race, starting at The Landing and
finishing at Shepherd of the Hills.
Stage 4, Thursday, September 11th, is a new course that will take cyclists from Lebanon to new host city Rolla in south central Missouri. Cyclists will be challenged by six sizeable hills, in perhaps the toughest stage, to the finish on a college campus at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. The race also will feature a sprint through Fort Leonard Wood Military Reservation to commemorate U.S. Armed Forces.
Stage 5, Friday, September 12th, a new course, features a start in the quaint town of St.
James, a new host city, and routes north to an earlyevening
finish in front of the Capitol
Building in Jefferson City. Cyclists will race up a tough 300meter
climb to the finish line.
Added Birrell: “In response to surveying a lot of the cyclists from last year’s race, we’ve
made it a bit more challenging with some more hills,” said Birrell. “While Missouri doesn’t have
any major mountains, it is a very hilly state. We have incorporated some of the big rollers
within the state and come up with some very good courses. One of our course advisors was
Kevin Livingston, originally from Missouri, who rode at a worldclass
level in Europe for almost
a decade and was a great climber. He pointed us in the right direction.”
Stage 6, and routing along the twisting highways near the Missouri River and feature the two
longest climbs of the tour on Schluersburg and Old Colony Roads before passing through the
city of O’Fallon and finishing near the same location in St. Charles along the Missouri River.
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. The circuit will be stretched
to 14 miles and include a large section through Forest Park and feature the Grand Basin and
the Art Museum hill.
Last year’s inaugural race suited Dominguez, who won the opening stage in Kansas City and
the closing stage in St. Louis, and has become a big fan of the Tour of Missouri despite the
tougher terrain.
“As a sprinter, I like the flat terrain, so more hills are not necessarily so good for me,” said
Dominguez, who won more races last year on the North American circuit than any racer. “But,
there are three good stages for me in Kansas City, Springfield and St. Louis, so, I am
excited. And, it is always a challenge to go up against some of the top sprinters from the
European pro teams. Last year’s race was very good for my ToyotaUnited
teammates.
There were a lot of spectators,
especially for a new race. And,
it’s always good to win. Of
course, Kansas City and St.
Louis are now my new favorite
towns.”
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 Stage 1 – Monday, September 8 / St. Joseph to Kansas City / 90 miles
/ road race / Start: 12:30 pm – Est. finish: 4:30 pm
The city of St. Joseph will play host to a Tour stage for the first time, as the race kicks off in front of City Hall, and only 100 yards away from a monument to the
Pony Express. Riders on two wheels, rather than four legs, will exit town on a picturesque parkway before feasting on the first Mich ULTRA King of the Mountain competition less than 20 miles into the overall race.
The first 50 plus miles feature a series of relentless small, uncategorized climbs, some of which form a panoramic view of the Missouri River. This differs from the relatively flat outandback course featured on the course last year for Stage 1.
The first points toward the Edward Jones Sprint Jersey will be up for grabs in Platte City and Parkville en route to the final three circuits around the Country Club Plaza District and Ward Parkway in Kansas City. In a wrinkle different from last year, the circuits in Kansas City will be reversed and feature a 300 meter climb to a Mich ULTRA KOM point. The finish will be fast and furious with cyclists descending at about 45 miles per hour before winding up for the flat sprint ending near last year’s finish.
Last year’s stage winner: Ivan Dominguez (Cuba), Toyota United
View Stage Map
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 Stage 2 – Tuesday, September 9 / Clinton to Springfield / 126 miles
/ road race / Start: 11:00
am – Est. finish: 4:15 pm
The longest stage of this year’s race, this course is a remake of last year’s decisive stage of the inaugural Tour of Missouri. The stage starts in historic Clinton, near the head of the statelong Katy Trail, and winds through flat, pastoral regions of western Missouri en route to the finish in Springfield.
Last year, spectators witnessed George Hincapie steal the stage and essentially the overall race during this flat stage. The race features three water ways. Edward Jones sprint points are featured in the towns of Stockton and Willard en route to three finish circuits around the downtown of Missouri’s third largest city. There are no KOM points on this
stage.
Last year’s stage winner: George Hincapie (U.S.A.), Discovery Channel
View Stage Map
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Stage 3 – Wednesday, September 10 / Branson / 18 miles / individual time
trial / First cyclist: 11:00 am – Finish: 2:00 pm
Another remake of a 2007 course, many teams have already cited this stage as the most pivotal toward the overall win. Starting at The Landing, a new development on Lake Taneycomo off downtown Branson, cyclists will be challenged by what 2007 overall race champion George Hincapie called “the hardest time trial course” he’d ever ridden. In reversed order of their placing, cyclists will go off the start ramp in intervals of one minute each until the final
10, which will go off at two minute intervals. The course features the rich hill terrain around Missouri’s national tourist hotspot.
It is an 18 mile grind over three climbs, the last being a two and a half mile haul up to Shepherd of the Hills Homestead and Outdoor Center, the location where tourism in the Ozarks was started in 1907. It was also made famous by the book and movie by
the same title. The movie starred John Wayne.
Last year’s stage winner: Levi Leipheimer (U.S.A.), Discovery Channel
View Stage Map
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 Stage 4 – Thursday, September 11 / Lebanon to Rolla / 95 miles / road race / Start: 11:00 am – Est. finish: 3:00 pm
Playing host to a start for the second consecutive year, Stage 4
starts in the southcentral
agricultural hub city of Lebanon. The
AllAmerican
city is an appropriate place to start on September
11, as race organizers have special plans to route through Fort
Leonard Wood Military Reservation as a tribute to U.S. Armed
Forces. Edward Jones sprint lines will be contested at Fort
Leonard Wood and Richland en route to a finish adjacent to the
campus of the Missouri University of Science and Technology.
The race also will
feature long stretches in the Mark Twain National Forest and
three Mich ULTRA KOMs, with perhaps the toughest climb, a
nasty 12percent
halfmile
climb outside of Waynesville. The
route also tracks on and off the famous Route 66. Touted as
‘deceivingly tough”, this may be the surprise stage of the race,
according to race organizers.
New course
View Stage Map
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 Stage 5 – Friday, September 12 / St. James to
Jefferson City / 108 miles / road race / Start: 2:00
pm – Est. finish: 6:30 pm
The quaint wine country town of St. James will play host for the first time to a stage of the Tour. The 2 p.m. send off is the latest start of this year’s tour and route to Missouri’s capital city of Jefferson City for a late finish under the shadows of the Capitol’s dome.
Jefferson City was a start city in the 2007 race. Now in the limelight as a primetime finish, the hilly streets of the capital city will undoubtedly put pain into riders leg as the last 300 meters of the race finish uphill, which could produce time gaps between leaders of the stage. The race will feature one Mich ULTRA KOM point, and Edward Jones sprint points in the
towns of Bland and Vienna. “A never ending series of small hills,” is how one course director describes this stage.
New course
View Stage Map
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 Stage 6 – Saturday,
September 13 /
Hermann to St. Charles
/ 96 miles / road race /
Start: 12:30 pm – Est.
finish: 4:15 pm
Starting in the Bavarian town of Hermann, which hosted a sprint line last year, cyclist will race along Highways 100 and 94, rolling through a series of three Mich ULTRA KOM points, in one of the most rugged stretches of the overall race.
During this race, cyclists will face two 1.2 kilometer (or about 1,400 yards) steep climbs on Old Colony and Schluersburg Roads.
Edward Jones sprint lines will be featured in the towns of Augusta and O’Fallon. The race will finish on the banks of the Missouri River in historic St. Charles, coming in from the north this year.
Last year’s
stage winner: Danny
Pate (U.S.A.), Slipstream
– Chipotle
View Stage Map
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 Stage 7 – Sunday, September 14 / St. Louis / 70 miles circuit / Start: 2 pm – Est. finish: 4:50 pm
The grand finale of the 2008 Tour will again finish with a circuit race in St. Louis, Missouri’s largest
metropolis and one of America’s great sports cities. The start and finish line will move from Union
Station to Tucker and Market in front of St. Louis’s City Hall. That is not the only change. This year’s
course will route five times and encompass a large part of Forest Park, routing on Lagoon and
Government Drives within the Park, and past the Museum, before returning through the Central West
End.
Last year’s stage winner: Ivan Dominguez (Cuba), Toyota United
View Stage Map
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