Road: Contador, Leipheimer Scheduled To Compete In Tour of Missouri

2007 Tour de France champion Alberto Contador and third place finisher Levi Leipheimer, both members of the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team, have been selected by their team to compete in the upcoming Tour of Missouri. Patterned after the successful Tour de Georgia and Amgen Tour of California races, the Tour of Missouri is North America’s newest Pro Tour-caliber stage race. The Tour of Missouri kicks off on Tuesday, September 11 in Kansas City and concludes five days and 600 miles later in St. Louis.

Contador and Leipheimer will be flanked by a strong contingent of teammates, including: pre-race favorite and current U.S. National Champ, George Hincapie of Greenville, S.C.; 8^th place Tour de France finisher Yaroslav Popovych of the Ukraine; Tony Cruz of Long Beach, CA; 2007 3^rd place finisher of the Amgen Tour of California, Jason McCartney of Coralville, IA; up and coming U.S. star John Devine of Dixon, IL; and Fuyu Li, the first Chinese athlete to compete at the elite Pro Tour level. 

“To have Johan Bruyneel commit to bringing Discovery Channel’s Tour de France ‘dream team’ to the Tour of Missouri is very special for this first-time race,” said Race Director Jim Birrell.  “We will have three riders from the top eight of the Tour de France, two being from the final podium, and I look forward to hosting the entire Discovery Channel team during their swan song on domestic soil.”

Stay tuned as the team that dominated this year’s Tour de France brings its star athletes and proven formula for success stateside for on last hurrah. If past performance is any indication of future results, the team will no doubt bring its “A-game,” offering fans plenty of exciting racing as the team looks to go out on top. For a complete schedule of events, and for more information about the Tour of Missouri, please visit www.tourofmissouri.com.