Tour of Missouri wrap up

No surprise to anyone Big George took home the win. Hopefully if he hadn't been injured for the spring classics, Johan would have gotten the team behind him then but at least he got his chance once this year.

Ivan Domiguez showed why he is the man this year in the sprinter's realm by wining another stage and wrapping up the points jersey. Big up to Rollin for taking the intermediate sprint and making him work for it though.

Speaking of Rollin way to represent by getting third in the stage and grabbing third overall over Canada.

and of course big up to Slipstream for getting 2nd overall with Frisckorn, best young rider with Cozza, and #1 in the team classification. All this without the big names even starting...nice.

All in all not a bad beginning to what will hopefully be a regular addition to the US racing schedule.

Final overall
1. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, 21:00:33
2. William Frischkorn (USA), Slipstream-Chipotle, at 1:38
3. Dominique Rollin (Can), KodakGallery-Sierra Nevada, at 2:09
4. David Cañada (Sp), Prodir-Saunier Duval, at 2:21
5. Michael Friedman (USA), Slipstream-Chipotle, at 2:46
6. Frank Pipp (USA), Health Net-Maxxis, at 2:51
7. Valeriy Kobzarenko (Ukr), Navigators Insurance, at 3:06
8. Andrew Randell (Can), Symmetrics, at 3:50
9. Stefan Parinussa (G), Team Sparkasse, at 4:26
10. Matthew Rice (Aus), Jelly Belly, at 6:16

2007 Tour of Missouri
Winner: George Hincapie, Discovery Channel
Points: Ivan Dominguez (Cub), Toyota-United
Mountains: Jeff Louder, Health Net-Maxxis
Best young rider: Steven Cozza, Slipstream-Chipotle
Team: Slipstream-Chipotle
Most aggressive: John Parr, Tecos

Tour of Missouri stage 5

Disco did that thing they do once again yesterday and made sure that the only riders to get into a break were not going to be a threat to the yellow jersey thus with the final stage being a circuit race George Hincapie essentially has the win in the bag.

Jeff Louder went in the break that finally stuck to sew up his hold on the KOM competition, but I have to wonder why it is necessary to have a KOM jersey when there are no mountains? I'm talking to you too Nature Valley Grand Prix. I mean the KOMs are essentially intermediate sprints on random hills. I mean the jersey and prize money are great I guess but....

I really thought that Kodak might try to pull the break back to set up Rollin for the sprint but they either waited too long or are counting on the intermediate and final sprints today. The battle for third should be the exciting part of today's stage.

Nice one to Danny Pate for attacking with 3km to go and making it stick for the stage win (surprisingly his first of the year). Slipstream is gonna rock next year.

Also big up to Justin.tv which has been providing me with a live video feed for free. yes it is small...yes it is pixelated...and yes the sound is sketchy or sometimes non-existent but unlike cycling.tv or wcsn.com it is free. though I htink my productivity at work will definitely go up this week (no vuelta and no ToM)

General classification
1 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel 18.23.13
2 William Frishkorn (USA) Team Slipstream p/b Chipotle 1.40
3 David Canada Gracia (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 2.22
4 Dominique Rollin (Can) Kodakgallery.com - Sierra Nevada 2.23
5 Michael Friedman (USA) Team Slipstream p/b Chipotle 2.48
6 Frank Pipp (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis 2.57
7 Valery Kobzarenko (Ukr) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 3.04
8 Andrew Randell (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team 3.48
9 Stefan Parinussa (Ger) Team Sparkasse 4.20
10 Matt Rice (Aus) Jelly Belly Cycling Team 6.21
11 Andrew Guptill (USA) Colavita - Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light 6.25
12 Jonathan Garcia (USA) BMC Professional Cycling Team 6.34

Tour of Missouri stage 4

Well I can't say that I was surprised by the way that yesterday's stage shook out.

It was obvious taht Disco wasn't going to let any of the GC contenders slip away and you could guess that Saunier-Duval would like to get a stage win.

Disco did their part and put up enough of a chase to keep the break close but not enough to cause problems for the race organizers.

I was surprised that the break couldn't stay away. My money was on Health-Net to take the stage with both Louder and Hesjedal in the break. It was not to be however and in the end Pagliarini was the man.

I think the big question is whether Rollin can push Canada off the podium with only a second separating them.

General Classification
1. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery, 13:30:26
2. William Frischkorn (USA), Slipstream, 1:40
3. David Canada (Sp), Prodir, 2:22
4. Dominique Rollin (CAN), KodakGallery, 2:23
5. Michael Friedman (USA), Slipstream, 2:48
6. Frank Pipp (USA), Health Net, 2:57
7. Valeriy Kobzarenko (Ukr), Navigators, 3:04
8. Andrew Randell (CAN), Symmetrics, 3:48
9. Stefan Parinussa (G), Sparkasse, 4:20
10. Matthew Rice (Aus), Jelly Belly, 6:21

In other bummer news, Velonews reported in their coverage of the Vuelta today that Navigators Insurance (as well as Kodak) will be pulling out of cycling which is a major blow to US cycling.

Tour of Missouri stage 3

Well I can’t say that I was too surprised with the result of the TT at the Tour of Missouri today.



Levi kicked butt and George gained another chunk of time on the dirty dozen challengers to his win. I really think that the Domestic squads messed up by letting the competition get whittled down as much as it has. Disco is right at home protecting the lead in an event like this.



Barring anything drastic it looks like the only rider who can challenge Hincapie is Slipstream’s Will Frishkorn who is 1:40 back in second place

Cyclingnews has an interesting article on the organizers trying to force a chase and the safety concern behind it. I know that at times yesterday the peloton was only clocking like 16 MPH. Heck I could keep up with that and I am a slowpoke.

General classification after stage 3
1 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel 8.22.34
2 William Frishkorn (USA) Team Slipstream p/b Chipotle 1.40
3 David Canada Gracia (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 2.22
4 Dominique Rollin (Can) Kodakgallery.com - Sierra Nevada 2.23
5 Michael Friedman (USA) Team Slipstream p/b Chipotle 2.48
6 Frank Pipp (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis 2.57
7 Valery Kobzarenko (Ukr) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 3.04
8 Andrew Randell (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team 3.48
9 Stefan Parinussa (Ger) Team Sparkasse 4.20
10 Matt Rice (Aus) Jelly Belly Cycling Team 6.21
11 Andrew Guptill (USA) Colavita - Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light 6.25
12 Jonathan Garcia (USA) BMC Professional Cycling Team 6.34

Tour of Missouri stage 2

Well I guess I shouldn't have opened my mouth because stage 2 of the ToM was just like stage 3 of this year’s Tour de Georgia with a small breakaway that had most team’s represented got so much time that the twelve riders in the break are now the GC contenders for the race.

So with a break that included George Hincapie, David Canada, Frank Pipp, William Frischkorn, and several others went the distance and Big George covered all the attacks in the final circuits to take the stage and in doing so the yellow jersey.

Notably absent form the break was Toyota-United and given the huge time gaps it looks like they will be fighting for stage wins only from this point on.

None of the domestic teams seemed to want to pull the break back but are content to try and take the yellow jersey from the select group that lead today’s stage. Personally, my money is on Disco taking George all the way home and winning all the big stage races of the US this year. I think the domestic squads made a mistake by letting the field get so narrow.

General classification after stage 2

1 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel Professional Cycling 7.40.50
2 Dominique Rollin (Can) KodakGallery Pro Cycling p/b Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. 0.04
3 Frank Pipp (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis 0.07
4 Valeriy Kobzarenko (Ukr) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 0.10
5 Stefan Parinussa (Ger) Team Sparkasse 0.11
6 Andrew Guptill (USA) Colavita/Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light 0.13
7 Michael Friedman (USA) Team Slipstream Powered By Chipotle
8 David Canada (Spa) Prodir-Saunier Duval
9 Andrew Randell (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
10 Matthew Rice (Aus) Jelly Belly Cycling Team 0.52
11 William Frischkorn (USA) Team Slipstream Powered By Chipotle
12 Jonathan Garcia (USA) BMC Racing Team 2.30

Well its tour time –Tour of Missouri that is

The inaugural addition kicked off yesterday, so let’s hope that it is a little more Tour of California than Tour of Georgia. Don’t get me wrong there was excitement at the Tour of Georgia, but letting a breakaway get 30 minutes ahead and not pulling them back is kind of ridiculous. I understand if there is a crash, bad weather, or a protest by a French trade union holds up the peloton, but seriously the whole “I’m not gonna chase ‘em, you chase ‘em” thing was a little ridiculous.

Anyway, enough of that.

Yesterday’s first stage saw Discovery help pull back a 4-man break in the finishing circuits but the sprint finish went to Toyota-United’s Ivan Dominguez over Zach bell and Kyle Wamsley. The US pro teams should have some good motivation to really push it with Discovery winning both of the other big stage races in the US this year. Let’s hope that Disco aren’t just coasting through their finale as a team.


General classification
1 Ivan Dominguez (Cub) Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 3.05.27
2 Zach Bell (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team 0.04
3 Kyle Wamsley (USA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 0.06
4 Luciano Pagliarini (Bra) Prodir-Saunier Duval 0.07
5 James Meadley (Aus) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
6 Charles Dionne (Can) Colavita/Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light 0.08
7 Philipp Mamos (Ger) Team Sparkasse
8 Charles Huff (USA) Team Slipstream Powered By Chipotle 0.09
9 Valeriy Kobzarenko (Ukr) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
10 Danilo Wyss (Swi) Prodir-Saunier Duval 0.10