Yesterdays second stage
As riders came down the final straightaway of the Springfield circuit, George Hincapie (Discovery Channel)
soared ahead of second-place finisher Frank Pipp (Health Net/Maxxis) to capture Stage Two of the 2007 Tour of Missouri. Kodak
Gallery Pro Cycling Team’s Dominique Rollin placed third.
2006 U.S. Pro Cycling Champion Hincapie was part of group of 12 riders who broke away from the peloton at
the 29-mile mark of the 125-mile stage from Clinton to Springfield. He stayed in the middle of the breakaway group for most
of the ride, waiting until the finish line was in sight to make his decisive move. "I had to make some big efforts in the
last two kilometers with all those attacks," said Hincapie. "But once [Mike] Friedman went with about 300 [meters] to go,
I reacted right away and when I started coming up on him, I knew that I could win."
One hundred and fifteen riders began the day under picture-perfect skies, among roaring crowds and the small-town
charm of Clinton, MO. "I have been blown away by the crowds. It’s really amazing, for a first-year race. It’s
easy to expect that it’s going to be small but it’s been fantastic," said Will Frischkorn of Team Slipstream Powered
by Chipotle.
The 12-rider group’s early breakaway initially received little response from the peloton, but as their
lead grew to 17 minutes it became apparent that the move would determine the outcome of the race. "It was at 30 seconds for
about 20 kilometers, and we were going all out and they were going all out, and somebody at some point had to crack, and typically
that would be the guys chasing, and they did," said Hincapie. "So once we got to a minute, I knew that the gap should go up."
Todays time trial
American Levi Leipheimer, the winner of this year’s final time trial of the Tour de France, won the decisive individual
time trial while his teammate George Hincapie retained the overall lead after the third stage of the Tour of Missouri on Thursday.
Leipheimer bested eight-time Australian time trial champion Nathan O’Neill of the HealthNet Presented by Maxxis by
16 seconds over the hilly 18-mile course.
Hincapie, by virtue of his time over the other top riders, was able to retain the Missouri Tourism Yellow Leader’s
jersey for the second day after taking the lead at Stage Two in Springfield on Wednesday.
"The course was tough," said Leipheimer. "It was very hilly and hot. Lot of big rollers, middle climbs that required a
different kind of rhythm. I had to punch it on all the middle climbs and try to recover on the downhills."
Leipheimer continued by saying: "As long as my teammate wins, it’s fine; you can’t win everything. My goal
this year was California, a podium at the Tour and win a stage at the Tour, and I met those objectives. Everything else is
a bonus. The team is very strong. The Tour of Missouri is the last race for Discovery Channel, and we wanted to come here
and go out on the top, so this is the perfect way to end it."
Nathan O'Neill (Team Health Net Powered by Chipotle) said: "I had a good look at the course, and immediately I said to
myself this is a good one for me. I prepared well for it, and I warmed up good this morning… I knew right from the beginning
it was going to be a good day."
O'Neil added: "It was hard. There was nowhere to soft-pedal, nowhere to recover. It’s the sort of course that if
you are good, you know it straight away, and if your legs are good, you find your rhythm right away. And if you’re struggling,
you’re going to struggle. You can’t hide on a course like that."
George Hincapie (Discovery Channel said: "The legs weren’t great, I definitely felt my effort yesterday.
Coming into the circuits yesterday was basically me against 10 guys, I had to control every attack. So I think I paid a little
bit for it. But it was good, I was better than everybody in the break, and that’s all I had to do today."
Hincapie is enthousiastic about the first edition of the Tour of Missouri: "Fans have been amazing, a lot
more than we expected. We rolled into Kansas City for the start, and we were very impressed with the amount of people."
