Mark Cavendish, Team Columbia-HTC coming to Missouri

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It’s nice to see that the cycling team run by Riverside native Bob Stapleton is strongly supporting American-based races. The 2009 Tour of Missouri announced that Columbia-HTC will bring international sprint star Mark Cavendish as well as three-time world champion time trial winner Michael Rogers and top American veteran George Hincapie (if his broken collarbone has healed) to the
beleaguered race that begins Sept. 7.

U.S. fans don’t often get to see the best foreign racers -- who don’t often need to race in the U.S. since the majority of big races are in Europe. Stapleton is a passionate supporter of growing cycling in this country and by bringing his top racers to events like the Tour of Missouri and the Amgen Tour of California, he guarantees more media and sponsorship attention.

Cavendish won six sprint stages at the Tour de France. Hincapie rode most of the final week of the Tour de France with the broken collarbone and despite competing in extreme pain, helped lead Cavendish to his final stage win in Paris on the final day of the Tour.

-- Diane Pucin