The 2008 Tour of Missouri cycling event on Sept. 8-14 will include stretches of Route 66, including the towns of Rolla, Lebanon, Springfield, St. James and St. Louis as host cities.
It appears that Stage 4, which goes 105 miles from Lebanon to Rolla, makes use of the Mother Road extensively.
Here’s the news release that announced the course layout Wednesday:
After an exceptionally successful inaugural Tour of Missouri in 2007, the Show Me State will again welcome 120 of the world’s elite cyclists on a 600-mile point-to-point race, to be held September 8-14, 2008. The second edition of the Tour will include seven days of racing, from Kansas City to the Ozarks, over the Katy Trail, along Route 66 and the historic Missouri River, with a fantastic finish under the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. The race is sanctioned by the UCI and USA Cycling, the international and national governing bodies for cycling, respectively. It is ranked as a 2.1, second in ranking to only the Tour de Georgia and Amgen Tour of California in North American cycling.
And Rolla, which missed out hosting the event last year, was pumped about gaining a spot this year, reported the Rolla Daily News.
Rolla was disappointed when it was not selected for the inaugural race last year, but only excitement prevailed when the Rolla contingent at the news conference made no effort to hide its elation with the announcement about 2008. Some compared the reaction to winning an Oscar.
Mayor Bill Jenks didn’t mince words. He did a fist pump from the podium and uttered an Army yell that quieted the rest of the room.
“Darn right we’re happy,” Jenks said. “We’ll be ready when the Tour hits Rolla,” Jenks said. “I guarantee you it will be tough for any other city to outdo Rolla.”