The 2008 Tour of Missouri will feature an extra day, more hills and new cities when it launches September 8th in St. Joseph.
Again, the great state of Missouri will play host to these worldclass athletes from more than 20 countries this September. 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. 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.
Here’s the new itinerary:
- Stage 1 starts in St. Joseph and ends in Kansas City, with 90 miles of challenging rolling terrain along the Missouri River.
- Stage 2 is a long, mostly flat 126-mile route Clinton to Springfield.
- Stage 3 is an 18-mile time trial course in Branson’s rugged Ozark Mountains.
- Stage 4 takes cyclists from Lebanon to Rolla in south central Missouri, and the 95-mile route may be the toughest stage of the tour.
- Stage 5 runs from St. James to Jefferson City for 108 miles, finishing in front of the state capitol.
- Stage 6 starts in Hermann and ends in St. Charles, and features the two longest climbs of the tour among its 110 miles.
- Stage 7 ends the tour with a75-mile circuit course in St. Louis.
2007 Tour of Missouri winner George Hincapie, now racing for Team Columbia, will defend his title as one of 120 world-class cyclists from 15 elite professional teams. The 603-mile route will run September 8th–14th.
Read more: 2008 Route Details And Maps Announced
