Tour of Missouri newsletter issue #1

Quick Facts

Dates
September 11-16

Estimated Miles
600

Number of Teams
15

Cyclists per team
8

Number of cyclists: 120

Ranking
2.1 (third highest in North
America)

National Television
Versus Network

Sanctioning International
Cycling Union, USA
Cycling

Presented By
State of Missouri,
Missouri Division of
Tourism

Event Management and
Marketing
Medalist Sports
KOM Sports

More Information
tourofmissouri.com

Travel Information:
www.VisitMo.com

Schedule

STAGE 1
Tuesday, September 11
Kansas City to Kansas City
road race

STAGE 2
Wednesday, September 12
Clinton to Springfield
road race

STAGE 3
Thursday, September 13
Branson
time trial

STAGE 4
Friday, September 14
Lebanon to Columbia
road race

STAGE 5
Saturday, September 15
Jefferson City to St. Charles
road race

STAGE 6
Sunday, September 16
St. Louis (downtown)
circuit race

MORE INFORMATION
Jodi Hall, 415.990.1324
Steve Brunner, 719.272.7022

The Discovery Channel team, America s top-ranked international squad and now racing in the Tour de France, has become the first team announced for the inaugural Tour of Missouri international cycling race.

The event is scheduled for September 11-16, 2007, starting in Kansas City and finishing six days later in downtown St. Louis. It is the season-ending finale for many of the top teams and promises to be one of North America s top events.

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 worldclass race, and this is a great start.

Added Missouri s Lt. Governor Peter Kinder: Missourians are in for quite a spectacle from both the festival-like atmosphere to world-class athletes that this event will showcase. What not a better way to start out than having one of the world s topranked teams participate in the event.

Our Team has always had great success racing in the U.S., and we are looking forward to another solid performance in Missouri, said 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 features a multinational squad, led by top Americans Levi Leipheimer, a podium contender in this year s Tour de France, 2006 U.S. National Champion George Hincapie, 2005 Tour de Georgia winner Tom Danielson and 2000 Olympian Antonio Cruz.

The Discovery Channel team has more than 20 wins this season, including America s largest events: the Amgen Tour of California in February and Tour de Georgia in April.

Population: 314,262 (2.5MM metro)

Website: www.explorestlouis.com

Must See Attractions: The Arch, Contemporary Art Museum, Bissell Mansion, Anheuser-Busch Brewery, St. Louis Cardinals (baseball), St. Louis Rams (football), St. Louis Blues (hockey), Union Station

The Grand Finale of this year s Tour of Missouri, Sunday, September 16, will be staged in the heart of St. Louis, with a 75mile circuit race that will start and finish at historic Union Station. (Course details will be announced August 2.)

St. Louis is considered by many as one of the top sports towns in America. It is home to Tour of Missouri sponsor Anheuser-Busch, one of the driving corporate players in international sport. It is also home to many of the 2007 Tour of Missouri s largest sponsors: Edward Jones, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Drury Inn, and Monsanto.

Under the support of Mayor Francis Slay and Deputy Mayor Ron Brown, St. Louis efforts are directed by Ann Chance, the city s events director.

The Tour of Missouri will be a great opportunity to showcase St. Louis nationally and internationally, said Slay. I am proud that the Tour is now one of the top three stage races in the country and it will conclude in St. Louis.

One of the city s great moments came in 1904 when the World s Fair converged with the staging of the Olympic Games. Remnants of a century gone by are highlighted at Francis Field near Forest Park, the site of the 1904 events. Though not finalized yet, this year s Tour of Missouri may include a section of that historic area, much like the Women s Olympic Trials for marathon did in 2004.

The streets of St. Louis will be abuzz on the final Sunday as the worldchampion Cardinals and football s Rams play earlier in the day. Spectators will have a chance to migrate to Union Station to see the finish of Tour of Missouri, which could lend itself to massive crowds. Plans are still in the works around the finish area, but will include a festivallike display for spectators to enjoy this blockbuster weekend.

Spotlight

St. Louis-based Build-A-Bear Workshop® has been announced as the first major corporate partner of the inaugural Tour of Missouri cycling race. The meteoric company is approaching its partnership like it always has approached its business with creative flair and that often used French cycling term panache .

Build-A-Bear Workshop will participate in several ways with a unique presence during the six-day event. Each day, the young athlete who places highest in the overall standings will be awarded a speciallybranded Build-A-Bear Workshop Best Young Rider jersey (below). Much like the plush lion that is given to daily stage winners at the Tour de France, Build-A-Bear Workshop also created a personalized Tour of Missouri bear-sized tee shirt and cycling kit (jersey, helmet, and shorts,)


The Tour of Missouri bear will sport a replica jersey that will be given out to the Best Young Rider (under 25 years of age) during the Tour.


The Tour of Missouri School Booklet will hit more than 100,000 children in state.

to gear up a special bear. The stuffed animal-sized jersey is a replica of the Best Young Rider jersey. Starting in midAugust, the bearsized replica jerseys and cycling kits will be available for purchase at all 11 Build-A-Bear Workshop Missouri locations and online at www.buildabear.com, while quantities last. The winner of each race stage will receive a specially outfitted bear.

Another unique element to the partnership is the Build-A-Bear Workshop Foundation sponsorship of the fitness, bike safety and educational workbook (above) to be distributed in late-August just in time for back-to school. These workbooks will be distributed to 3rd 5th grade students in Missouri. The workbook provides teachers with lesson plans that incorporate bike safety, healthy lifestyles for kids.

Build-A-Bear Workshop Chief Executive Bear Maxine Clark said: You don t have to be the fastest, tallest or strongest kid in the neighborhood to have fun riding your bike. Almost everyone has fond childhood memories of their first bike - similar to those for their first teddy bear. We are thrilled to help further this great family sport and the fitness benefits that cycling provides.