Tour of Missouri in doubt

The Tour of Missouri is facing the loss of $1 million in public funding, which could lead to cancellation of this year's race. It is currently scheduled to be run August 31 to September 6.

Race organisers thought the money from the state tourism commission was assured, but that doesn't seem to be the case. According to stltoday.com, Marci Bennett, head of the commission, said that the money would more likely go elsewhere. “We love the race, but at this critical time, we can't put our eggs in one basket.”

The race is organised by Medalist Sports, which takes care of the teams and sponsors and deals with the governing bodies of cycling. It has set a deadline of May 7 to know whether the state will provide the funding, and if it does not have a definite positive answer then, it will withdraw from the event.

David Zabriskie of Team Garmin won the overall title in 2009, and Christian Vande Velde of the same team in 2008. George Hincapie won the first edition of the race in 2007 for Discovery Channel.