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Tour of Missouri Announces 2009 Start Times

SUNDAY, 26 JULY 2009


JEFFERSON CITY, MO - Event organizers and Missouri Lt. Governor Peter Kinder today announced the start and estimated finish times for each of the seven stages for the third Tour of Missouri professional cycling race, scheduled for September 7-13, 2009.

The following cities will play host to a leg of the 2009 Tour: St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, Cape Girardeau, Farmington, Rolla, St. James, Jefferson City, Sedalia, Chillicothe, St. Joseph, and Kansas City.

The race will be contested over seven days and seven stages. There will be two circuit races (St. Louis, Kansas City), one individual time trial (Sedalia), and four point-to-point road races (Ste. Genevieve to Cape Girardeau; Farmington to Rolla; St. James to Jefferson City; Chillicothe to St. Joseph). The start times, (central standard time), the finish city, and estimated finish times, are as follows:

Stage 1: St. Louis (circuit race) -- 2:30 PM -- Same -- 5:10 - 5:45 PM
Stage 2: Ste. Genevieve -- 11:00 AM -- Cape Girardeau -- 3:00 - 4:15 PM
Stage 3: Farmington -- 11:00 AM -- Rolla -- 3:10 - 4:15 PM
Stage 4: St. James -- 2:00 PM -- Jefferson City -- 5:45 - 7:00 PM
Stage 5: Sedalia (time trial) -- 2:00 PM -- Same -- 5:00 PM
Stage 6: Chillicothe -- 1:00 PM -- St. Joseph -- 5:00 - 6:10 PM
Stage 7: Kansas City -- TBD -- Same -- TBD

Stage by stage courses will be announced Thursday, July 30 in Kansas City.

The overall course will take on a very different slant in 2009. For the first time, the race will route east to west, starting in St. Louis and finishing in Kansas City. The past two years, the race routed west to east starting in Kansas City to finish in St. Louis. The overall mileage for the course is expected to be more than 600 miles.

Though a stellar world-class field was presented last year, the three-year-old race is expected to be event 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 last month.

The upgrade has drawn pro tour teams Astana, Cervelo Test Team, Team Columbia High-Road, Garmin Slipstream, Liquigas, Team Saxo Bank and Quickstep. Domestic teams participating in 2009 include BISSELL Pro Cycling Team, BMC Racing, Colavita / Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light, Jelly Belly, Kelly Benefit Strategies, OUCH presented by Maxxis, and Team Type 1.

Last year, the event drew more than 435,000 spectators over seven days. Missouri Tourism noted a direct and indirect economic impact of almost $30 million to the state. The event is sanctioned by USA Cycling, the national federation for cycling in the United States, and the Union Cycliste Internationale, the international governing body for the sport of cycling.

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