BY KATHLEEN NELSON

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Tuesday, Sep. 15 2009

Tour of Missouri winner Dave Zabriskie of Garmin-Slipstream is ready to come
back. So is Cervelo's Thor Hushovd, winner of the green jersey as top sprinter
here and at the Tour de France. And so are many other riders who competed in
third Tour of Missouri.

"It's important to have races like this in America. It's continued to grow,"
said Zabriskie, who rode in Missouri last year. "The fans, as you can tell,
love it, the riders definitely like it - everyone really enjoys racing here."

But the third edition, the most successful in terms of quality of field and
size of the crowds, could be the last.

"Nothing is guaranteed," said Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, whose office oversees the
state's portion of the race, "unless we race supporters can pull together a
herculean effort."

The two key ingredients, according to Sean Petty, chief executive of USA
Cycling, are financial support, either from the state or corporate sponsors,
and the continued involvement of Medalist Sports, which also helps stage the
Tour of California. Medalist's track record has helped lure the top teams and
ensure a safe event.

Chris Aronhalt, co-founder of Medalist, said, "Even we were surprised at how
fast this race has grown into one of the top events. This is one of our
favorites, and the state has been an ideal partner."

Medalist's agreement with Tour of Missouri Inc., the nonprofit corporation that
handles the state's part of the contract, expires after settling accounts for
the 2009 race. Aronhalt said that Tour of Missouri Inc., had asked Medalist to
submit a bid for future races and that Medalist already is planning for 2010.
He hoped to have a commitment for 2010 from the state by Thanksgiving.

"We have a lot of equity built into the event," Aronhalt said. "But the ball's
in the state's court."

There's the rub. Two months ago, Gov. Jay Nixon froze the $1.5 million targeted
for the race in the state's tourism budget. Though he released the money after
the tourism commission cut the money from other parts of its budget, his
spokesman, Jack Cardetti, said last week, "It's too early to tell about the
state's ability to fund future races."

Kinder noted that he invited Nixon to attend any of the seven stages of the
race.

"Never heard from him," Kinder said.

Though all the bills won't be paid for a month or so, Jerry Dowell, the race's
executive director and a member of Kinder's staff, said that the event would
break even this year, despite the economic downturn, and that new sponsors
already had expressed interest in 2010.

Dowell also quoted research from IFM Sports that estimated an economic impact
of $29.8 million last year. Turning to a hundred or so people who had gathered
at the start of Stage 4 in St. James, Dowell said, "If I asked you to give me
$1.50 and told you that I'd give you $30 back, who would do that?"

Every hand went up.

In addition to the grass-roots effort, Kinder has placed Democratic supporters
of the race front and center at each stage: Mayor Francis Slay in St. Louis,
Secretary of State Robin Carnahan and former U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan in
Sedalia, and House Minority Leader Paul Levota in Kansas City. The message to
Nixon seems to be that he'll face an uphill battle if he again tries to cut off
funding for the race and could suffer politically down the road.

"They all talk about how great this event is for their cities," Dowell said.
"The race really is a bipartisan thing."

Petty noted that the world governing body, the Union Cycliste International,
seems interested in seeing the race continue to grow. It has scheduled new Pro
Tour races in Montreal and Quebec City for the week after the race in Missouri.

"The Pro Tour teams that will be in Canada will be interested in racing in
Missouri the week before," Petty said. "It could enhance the field even
further."

Seven teams that raced in the Tour de France raced here, and that number could
grow to as many as 10 next year. But because Nixon threatened the race this
year, no one is resting easy.

Missouri native Brad Huff has raced in all three versions of the Tour of
Missouri and said he has seen it grow "by leaps and bounds. It brings the
world's best athletes to the small towns of Missouri. It brings out all these
people.

"I hope the right politicians realize it."