Tour of Missouri announces host cities; adds another day

A dozen cities will host starts or finishes at the second annual Tour of Missouri that rolls our for 7 days in 2008 from Sept. 8 through Sept. 14.

The 623-mile pro bicycle race begins on Monday in St. Joseph with a 90-mile stage race to Kansas City. It ends Sunday at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis with a circuit race.

Once again the racers will pedal the hills around Branson for the individual time trial, but they won't visit one of last year's cities — Columbia — at all.

Impact

The organizers tacked on an extra day this year for the race.

In making the route announcement, the state revealed the economic impact of last year's race at more than $26 million. An estimated 367,566 spectators turned out last year to see the last US ride of the Discovery Channel before it disbanded and witness George Hincapie's win.

It's too early to know if Hincapie will return to defend the title. His new team, Team High Road (Germany), is competing in the upcoming Tour of California, so it's not outside the realm of possibility that the team will return to US soil to compete in September.

The host cities are:

Stage 1 — Monday, Sept. 8: St. Joseph to Kansas City
Stage 2 — Tuesday, Sept. 9: Clinton to Springfield.
Stage 3 — Wednesday, Sept. 10: Branson time trial
Stage 4 — Thursday, Sept. 11: Lebanon to Rolla
Stage 5 — Friday, Sept. 12: St. James to Jefferson City
Stage 6 — Saturday, Sept. 13: Hermann to St. Charles
Stage 7 — Sunday, Sept. 14: St. Louis circuit

Except for Columbia, all the same cities will be hosting this year. The new cities are St. Joseph, St. James, Hermann and Rolla.

See the US pro tour schedule.