Discovery Channel team first to commit to Tour of Missouri

Photo by Chris Aschenbrener

America's only ProTour team, Discovery Channel, has announced its participation in September's Tour of Missouri. The all-new tour, from September 11-16, will start in Kansas City and conclude in St. Louis.

"Our Team has always had great success racing in the U.S., and we are looking forward to another solid performance in Missouri," said Discovery Channel sports director Johan Bruyneel. "Our success started with Lance and has continued on with guys like Tom (Danielson), Levi (Leipheimer) and more recently (Janez) Brajkovic at the Tour de Georgia. I don't know who will make up our roster just yet, but it will definitely be strong and have some of the Americans."
The Discovery Channel team is led by top Americans Levi Leipheimer, a podium contender in this year's Tour de France, 2006 U.S. National Champion George Hincapie, and 2005 Tour de Georgia winner Tom Danielson.

"We're extremely proud to announce the Discovery Channel team as the first team participant of the inaugural Tour of Missouri," said race director Jim Birrell. "Our goal is to attract top European and North American-based professional teams to this world-class race, and this is a great start."

Event organisers are hoping its season ending date will help attract some large local and European teams. The 600 mile event is made up of six stages - four road race stages with one criterium and a time trial.