Tour of Missouri News :: Stage 3: Thor Hushovd steals the victory <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.blogger.com/static/v1/common/js/2844496769-csitaillib.js"></script> <script>if (typeof(window.attachCsiOnload) != 'undefined' && window.attachCsiOnload != null) { window.attachCsiOnload('ext_blogspot'); }</script>

Rolla must have learned how to do it the first time around, because if anything this year's stage finish in Rolla was better organized and pulled out a bigger crowd.

The volunteers here were just amazing--uniformed soldiers from Fort Leonard Wood lined several miles of the route into town (our most hard-core course marshals yet . . . ) and riders who did the Tour pre-ride reported an amazing reception at the base itself.

As a bicycle advocate, one of the things I like about the Tour is how it brings out such a broad range of civic leaders in these communities--everyone from city council members to state legislators to Chamber of Commerce leaders--has been working hard on this project for nearly a whole year and now, when it comes into town, sees what a positive economic impact it has on the area.

And of course that project that has brought the whole community together and brought thousands of visitors into the community to spend their time and money, is not just any old project--it's a bicycle project.

In short, it's helping thousands of ordinary folks, in cities large and small across Missouri, to see the value of bicycling to their communities.

And that can only be a good thing for bicycling in Missouri.

Race results
Back to the stage: A breakaway of three dwindled down to two; those two were caught a few miles outside of Rolla.

Then the attacks came thick and fast, with a number of riders and small groups coming to the front, including Missouri native Danny Pate, whose attack looked promising for a short while.

In the end, the field held off all attacks and Thor Hushovd of the Cervelo Test Team stole the win from Mark Cavendish.

Cavendish came in fifth.

And to add insult to injury, the result of the tie-breaking calculations is that Hushovd took away the yellow jersey from Cavendish today.

A friend of mine who was just past the finish reported that Cavendish was very noticeably steamed as he came past.

So the duel between the two that went on at the Tour de France and other big races this year continues--and should set up another exciting stage tomorrow. The finish in Jefferson City is also likely (but not guaranteed . . . ) to be a sprint finish.

How the Tour Leader is determined
For the racing wonks among you: The leaders are all tied in total time after the first three stages, so how do they determine the yellow jersey? According to UCI regulations (see here, p. E0109 they first consider places in all previous stages, and if that is still a tie, they consider who placed higher in the most recent stage as the tiebreaker.

In this case, Cavendish has placed 1, 1, and 5 (total 7) while Hushovd placed 3, 2, and 1 (total 6). Since Hushovd's total is lower than Cavendish's, he is considered the GC leader after stage 3.

Photos from the 2009 Tour of Missouri Stage 3 finish in Rolla