Tour of Missouri

The 3rd annual Tour of Missouri features the world's best cyclists competing in a 7-day race covering over 600-miles of the Show-Me State. The 2009 Tour of Missouri was held September 7-13.

The 2009 race was 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 overall course took 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 total mileage for the course is expected to be more than 600 miles.

The Tour of Missouri Race, which was only begun in 2007, was recently recognized as one of the top five-ranked events outside Europe by international and national federations for cycling.

This upgrade helped draw pro tour teams Astana, Cervelo Test Team, Team Columbia HTC, Garmin Slipstream, Liquigas, Team Saxo Bank and Quickstep. Domestic teams participating in 2009 included 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.

In 2008, 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.