Tour of Missouri Expands

Big time. The TOM expands to a seven-day event with a start in St. Joseph. Definitely a nice win for the Northwestern city. Full schedule:

STAGE 1 / Monday, Sept. 8 St. Joseph to Kansas City , road race with circuits (90 mi / 144.81 km)

STAGE 2 / Tuesday, September 9 Clinton to Springfield , road race with circuits (125 mi / 201.13 km)

STAGE 3 / Wednesday, September 10 Branson , individual time trial (18 mi / 28.6 km)

STAGE 4 / Thursday, September 11 Lebanon to Rolla , road race with circuits (105 mi / 168.95 km)

STAGE 5 / Friday, September 12 St. James to Jefferson City , road race with circuits (100 mi / 160.9 km)

STAGE 6 / Saturday, September 13 Hermann to St. Charles , road race (110 mi / 177 km)

STAGE 7 / Sunday, September 14 St. Louis , circuit race (75 mi / 120.68 km)

http://www.tourofmissouri.com/

New Start For Astana

The troubled Astana squad has gone 180 degrees since last season. With Levi Leipheimer, Alberto Contador and Johan Bruyneel at the helm expectations are high. Yahoo posted an AP story yesterday on the challenge ahead.

Astana AP Story Link