The Tour of Missouri wrapped up on Sunday, but people are already talking about next year's race.

Here are two articles that Peter's quoted in talking about the end of the Tour of Missouri and the prospects for a race next year. Enjoy.

State expects to bring race back in 2008

"We are committing to another race in 2008, and planning begins this coming week," said Kinder, who described being overwhelmed by the public response the past six days. "The first part of the planning process is to evaluate what went right, what went wrong, how we can do better, how we can improve, how we can line up more corporate sponsors."

It was too early to say how much of an economic impact the event had or even how many spectators attended the race over six days. Gov. Matt Blunt did say early estimates had 110,000-130,000 people viewing the first four stages. The turnout appeared even greater over the weekend.

Read the rest of the article here.

Big crowds greet Tour of Missouri's finish

“It’s been a rolling Super Bowl on wheels,” said Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder. “The state has really embraced it, and it’s been a unifying event for our largest cities and smallest towns.”

Officials hope this year’s race will be the first of many. They’re banking on the enormous crowds — many riders compared jammed Missouri country roads to scenes straight out of the Tour de France — to jumpstart interest in a sport that’s yet to gain much traction in the United States.

“We plan to build on this and make it bigger and better for 2008,” Kinder said.

Read the rest of the article here.

Like Peter said yesterday, "The Tour of Missouri was a success because it was embraced by Missourians. Join me in celebrating the triumph of this year’s event as we look forward to next year."