The very first Tour of Missouri kicked off Tuesday. The race features some of America's best talents, along with a few European teams. They included Pro Tour teams Discovery Channel and Prodir-Saunier Duval, European continental powerhouses DFL-Cyclingnews-Lightspeed and Sparkasse, American continental and domestic outfits Health Net-Maxxis, Navigators Insurance, Team Slipstream, Toyota United, BMC, Jelly Belly, Kodak Gallery presented by Sierra Nevada, Colavita/Sutter Home Presented by Cooking Light, the USA Developmental team, Mexico's Tecos de la Universidad Autonama de Guadalajara, and Canada's Symmetrics Cycling team. Top Pro Tour riders include Tour de France champion Alberto Contador, podium finisher Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie, and David Canada.
The 116 riders started the first stage of the first Tour of Missouri in Kansas City, and raced 85.2 miles. A breakaway was finally established at the 21 mile mark, the break included Philipp Mamos (Sparkasse), Tim Johnson (Health Net-Maxxis), Valeriy Kobzarenko (Navigators Insurance), Tyler Wren (Colavita/Sutter Home), and James Meadley (Jelly Belly). The breakaway was eventually swept away, and Toyota United's Cuban missile Ivan Dominguez took the first stage.
Stage 1 Results (Kansas City 85.2 miles/137 km)
1. Ivan Dominguez (Toyota United) 3:05:37 2. Zach Bell (Symmetrics) s.t 3. Kyle Wamsley (Navigators Insurance) s.t 4. Danilo Wyss (Prodir-Saunier Duval) s.t 5. David Vitoria (BMC) s.t
A 12-rider breakaway took control of Stage 2. The group was stacked, complete with George Hincapie (Discovery Channel), David Canada (Prodir-Saunier Duval), and Will Frischkorn (Slipstream). The attacks started once the riders reached the downtown circuit of Springfield, Missouri. George Hincapie masterfully covered each move, and outsprinted everyone to take the stage, and the yellow jersey. The main field finished over four minutes later.
Stage 2 (Clinton-Springfield 125.6 miles/202 km):
1. George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) 4:35:26 2. Frank Pipp (Health Net-Maxxis) s.t 3. Dominique Rollin (Kodak Gallery) s.t 4. Michael Friedman (Slipstream) s.t 5. Stefan Parinussa (Sparkasse) s.t
Overall after Stage 2:
1. George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) 7:40:50 2. Dominique Rollin (Symmetrics) +0:04 3. Frank Pipp (Health Net-Maxxis) +0:07
With his big lead, no one was really a threat at today's individual time trial. Hincapie is the best time trialist of the 12 riders that finished ahead of the pack and are still in realistic contention. Tour de France Stage 19 winner Levi Leipheimer took today's stage, with Hincapie keeping a firm grip on his lead.
Stage 3 (Branson 18 miles/29 km):
1. Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) 39:37 2. Nathan O'Neill (Health Net-Maxxis) +0:16 3. Matti Helminen (DFL-Cyclingnews) +1:27
Overall after Stage 3:
1. George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) 2. Will Frischkorn (Slipstream) +1:40 3. David Canada (Prodir-Saunier Duval) +2:22
The Tour of Missouri continues tomorrow with a 214 kilometer road race, the longest of the stage. The race wraps up on Sunday in St.Louis. You can watch the action on Cycling TV.
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