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Tour of Missouri St. Louis stage, Part II

Today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports on the final stage of the Tour of Missouri, focusing on the fact that professional cyclist Dan Schmatz, a St. Louis County native and a member of the BMC Pro Cycling Team. will get to ride in a major pro race in Missouri on Sept. 11-16.

The Post-Dispatch reports Schmatz was especially excited about the Tour of Missouri's last stage, a 74-mile circuit race in St. Louis. The Post says the final circuit features 10 laps around a 7.4-mile course that starts in front of Union Station, heads west through Forest Park and returns downtown on Lindell.

Although the Post-Dispatch reports the circuit is 7.4 miles, the map and profile posted on the Tour of Missouri site indicates the final circuit is 10.6 miles. Since I was unable to attend the press conference Thursday, I don't know which is correct. But the map published today in the print version of the Post and the map on the race's Web site show identical streets and turns, and a check of the route at Bikely.com indicates it's 10.6 miles.

The stage is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. and finish between 3:30 and 4 p.m., just after the St. Louis Cardinals-Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Rams-San Francisco 49ers games that will be played in downtown St. Louis that day, the Post reports.

On Thursday afternoon, the Jefferson City News Tribune posted its story coming from the Wednesday press conference held in Jefferson City, Missouri's state capital. The News Tribune also quoted Schmatz extensively, only that they called him Pat Schmatz instead of Dan Schmatz.

The News Tribune focused on the expected participation of Levi Leipheimer and the hilly terrain racers will face in Missouri.

Labels: cycling, racing, St. Louis, Tour of Missouri

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