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July 11, 2008 For more information, contact: Tour of Missouri Bicycle Race ST. JAMES— Residents of Gasconade, Maries and Osage counties will be able to see the Tour of Missouri first hand, without even leaving the tri-county area. Race planners recently released the planned routes for the seven-day bicycle race, and the event will pass through Bland, Belle and Vienna on Stage 5 of the race on Sept. 12. Some 120 world-class cyclists from 15 elite professional teams are expected to participate. The race will begin in St. Joseph on Sept. 8 and conclude in St. Louise on Sept. 14. “Again, the great state of Missouri will play host to these world-class athletes from more than 20 countries this September,” said Lt. Governor Kinder in announcing this year’s routes. “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.” Stage 5 of the competition on Sept. 12, a new course for this year’s event, will bring the race through Gasconade, Maries and Osage counties. That day, bicyclists will leave St. James at about 2 p.m. enroute to Jefferson City for an early evening finish at the state Capitol. The 108.8-mile trip will head north from St. James on Route B some 25 miles to Bland. There, racers will take Highway 28 west through Bland and Belle and pick up Highway 42 to travel through Vienna and onto Highway 133 onto Meta, St. Thomas, Wardsville and Taos before heading into Jefferson City. “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 Jim Birrell, race director, in a recent press release. “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 world-class level in Europe for almost a decade and was a great climber. He pointed us in the right direction.” This portion of the race will feature one Mich ULTRA King of the Mountain (KOM) point, and Edward Jones sprint points in the towns of Bland and Vienna. Some streets and roads may be closed temporarily for race events. St. James Community Developer Candace Connell, chair of the St. James Local Organizing Committee, is encouraging local communities along the race to get involved and be prepared for race watchers to visit places along the route. “We’ve been told that a lot of people will watch the race at the starting point and then will go ahead of the racers to sit along the route to experience the race again,” Connell said. “It’s about experiencing the race and anything the communities can do to stand out” should help draw race enthusiasts to their area, which could provide exposure and generate revenue for local businesses. Some communities display special signage and others—like Hermann, who was a pass-through city last year—have hosted special events before and after the race. The Tour of Missouri, in its second year, is one of only three elite cycling events in the United States. Some 10,000 to 15,000 people are expected to be in Rolla and St. James to see the race. In 2007, some 367,000 people saw a portion of the Tour of Missouri at some point during the six-day event. An economic impact study of the race found that Tour of Missouri visitors had a higher household income compared to other tourists and tended to spend more than other tourists—some $560 per household travel party compared to $307 for other tourists. Overall, the race brought some $26.2 million of out-of-state money to Missouri in 2007. The 2007 event consisted of 15 professional bicycle teams with eight riders per team. “It’s going to have a tremendous impact on the Meramec Region. The exposure this area is going to get from this event is tremendous,” Rolla race coordinator Scott Caron told the board of the Meramec Regional Planning Commission in June. Three cities in the Meramec Region—Rolla, St. James and Hermann—are host cities this year. Televised 30-minute race updates are planned daily with a two-hour special will air on Versus network after the race concludes, Caron said. The 30-minute segments typically devote a few minutes to the cities hosting the events. Volunteers are needed for the race. Volunteer information and online-registration can be found online at www.tourofmissouri.com. Sidebar: TOUR OF MISSOURI: DAY-BY-DAY After several pre-events in the Kansas City metro area, Stage 1, Monday, Sept. 8 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, Sept. 9, 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, Sept. 10, 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, Sept. 11, 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, Sept. 12, a new course, features a start in St. James, a new host city, and routes north to an early evening finish in front of the Capitol Building in Jefferson City. Cyclists will race up a tough 300 meter climb to the finish line. Stage 6, on Sat., Sept. 13, 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 King of the Mountain (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. Stage 7, on Sunday, Sept. 14, 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. |