September 13/09 18:29 pm - Tour of Missouri: Stage 7 Report, Interviews and results

Posted by Editoress on 09/13/09
 

Final Team Invited Becomes First to Cross K.C. Finish at Stage 7 In 2009 Tour of Missouri

It was more than just an advancing cold front that raced into the Midwest today, as Canadian Martin Gilbert (Planet Energy) sprinted to the line in front of countryman Andrew Pinfold (OUCH p/b Maxxis) for victory in Stage 7, presented by Cerner. Norway's Thor Hushovd (Cervelo Test Team) finished third, his sixth trip to the podium in seven days at this week's Tour of Missouri. The winning time of Stage 7 was 2 hours, 33 minutes, 11 seconds.

In a city referred to as the "Paris of the Plains", the American-based Garmin-Slipstream came away with the overall prize at the champagne stage of the 2009 Tour of Missouri, with their American time trial specialist Dave Zabriskie retaining the Missouri Tourism Race Leader's Jersey.

"My guys, they're gonna get some big hugs from me tonight. I really appreciate what they did for me. The last two days...that's why they call it a team sport." - 2009 Tour of Missouri Champion, Dave Zabriskie"My guys, they're gonna get some big hugs from me tonight. I really appreciate what they did for me. The last two days...that's why they call it a team sport," added Zabriskie, who adorned the Missouri Tourism Leader's jersey on Friday after winning the individual time trial in Sedalia.

In the 2009 general classification, Denmark's Gustav Larsson (Saxo Bank) finished second overall, 30 seconds behind Zabriskie. The third overall spot was taken in the final stage by Marco Pinotti (Columbia-HTC), finishing 41 seconds back. With points taken at the Edward Jones Sprint line today, Pinotti gained the extra two seconds he needed to overtake third place from American Tom Zirbel (Bissell Pro Cycling), who finished fourth and one second behind the Italian.

Of the 112 competitors who started Stage 7, presented by Cerner, 95 finished and completed another high-tempo day with an average speed of 28 miles per hour (45 km.h).

"I think, all week we had few opportunities for the sprint, we always finished close to the podium. Today we took it a different way, really, by the back (we) used the momentum of the hill (to the finish), no mistakes today. We put it together," said Gilbert, a Quebec native who won the 2007 USPro Criterium Championship. His Planet Energy Canadian team accepted the 15th and final spot into this year's Tour of Missouri just one month ago. "It's really nice of the team to be invited to as big a race as here, a first year team. For sure, I think the team got in this race by the back door, kind of. We weren't supposed to be here at the beginning. We are really happy with the sprint today."

The grand finale of the 2009 Tour of Missouri, Stage 7, presented by Cerner, started at 2:00 p.m. under overcast, breezy weather conditions with thousands of enthusiastic fans lining almost every mile of the 10.2-mile (16.4km) circuit course in Kansas City. The peloton made seven laps for a total of 71.4 miles (114.9 km) on this new finishing course, based in the Crown Center area of Kansas City. Race fans congregated near Union Station at the start/finish, in the revitalized K.C. Power & Light District at the Edward Jones Sprint Line, and at the two Michelob Ultra KOMs. The first KOM on Kessler Road was marked by The Liberty Memorial, which houses the National World War I Museum, and the other at Summit Street provided a panoramic view of downtown Kansas City.

Three riders made the first successful break of the day 15 miles into the race, Danish rider Nicki Sorensen (Saxo Bank), American Christopher Jones (Team Type 1), and Swiss rider Gregory Rast (Astana). On the fourth lap in K.C., Iowa-native Jason McCartney (Saxo Bank) and Danish teammate Chris Anker Sorensen bridged the gap from the peloton to help their teammate. A sixth rider joined the break on Lap 5, Canadian Michael Barry (Columbia-HTC), who was awarded the Drury Hotels Most Aggressive Rider jersey. This group built a lead of 45 seconds, but was caught on the final circuit. From there, Garmin-Slipstream and Cervelo Test Team had to reel in a solo break by Aussie Michael Rogers (Columbia-HTC) and this set up a bunch sprint for the final stage.

"We were able to hit new cities, go to new parts of the state this year. And now that many more people know that professional cycling is exciting, and what a great opportunity it is to showcase our state. Work begins in the morning to bring back the 2010 Tour of Missouri," stated Missouri Lt. Governor Peter Kinder. "Today was just an absolute blowout crowd."

In the final award jersey presentations for the week, Hushovd won the Edward Jones Sprint jersey, Dario Cataldo (QuickStep) of Italy won the 180 Energy/ Icelandic Glacial Water Best Young Rider jersey, and Moises Aldape (Team Type I) of Mexico won the Michelob Ultra KOM jersey. Team Saxo Bank was recognized as the Best Team. The 2008 Tour of Missouri champion Christian Vande Velde had to withdraw from the race on Stage 2 because of a broken bone in his right hand, suffered in a Stage 1 crash.

"I'm very proud of Dave (Zabriskie) and the team for what they accomplished this week - the Tour of Missouri looked very hard again this year. It was important for me to come back and watch with the guys," said Vande Velde, who returned to the Tour Sunday to support his team. "The crowds and the support were amazing. It was great to watch the team win from the other side of the fence."

For the first time since its inaugural year in 2007, the 2009 Tour of Missouri moved across the state from east to west, starting in St. Louis and finishing in Kansas City. This year's Tour included two circuit races (St. Louis, Kansas City), one individual time trial (Sedalia), and four point to point road races (Ste. Genevieve to Cape Girardeau; Farmington to Rolla; St. James to Jefferson City; Chillicothe to St. Joseph). The overall mileage for the course was 612 miles.

Tour of Missouri report

Interviews by Amy Smolens

Knock, knock, knock....that is the sound of the Canadian sprinters knocking on the door of the podium... And today, in their final opportunity, they came through with flying colours. Chateauguay, Quebec's Martin Gilbert (Planet Energy) outsprinted North Vancouver's Andrew Pinfold (OUCH Presented by Maxxis) to take the top two steps. Both of them knocked none other than the Tour de France's Green Jersey winner, Thor Hushovd, down to third. The sighs of relief and cheers of excitement could be heard from coast to coast.
Three-time Olympian Michael Barry (Team Columbia) bridged to a breakaway and attacked, coming up short in his bid for a stage win but earning the Drury Hotels Most Aggressive Rider Jersey.
I caught up with a breathless and excited Gilbert after his victory:


Post-race, Martin Gilbert- Planet Energy, Stage Winner

Amy Smolens: You've been so close to a podium spots all week. How important is this victory to you and Planet Energy?

Martin Gilbert: I think it's good for the team. For me right now it's the last race of the season and all week we've had the chance to sprint against the big guys and I think all the team, we knew we could do it. We went hard all the time, we made mistakes all week and I think today's a matter of we made less mistakes and we were able to do it, so it's really fun and it's a good thing for all my teammates, all the team, all the management, sponsors who were here all year, for the first year (of the team's existence) right now so I think it's a pretty good victory and it's a good thing for next year.

AS: After being the final team invited to the Tour of Missouri what does it mean to outsprint a guy like Thor Hushovd?

MG: Oh, I thought we could do it, it's why we worked hard to get into this Tour here! We were in good position all year and for sure a first year team needs to put it together and make some results to make sure that the organizers want to invite us. So all week we worked hard, we wanted to show everybody that we can sprint against those guys and maybe beat them, so that's what happened today!

AS: And you must be happy to make Steve Bauer proud.

MG: I think for sure Steve is behind this team since the beginning, we have a big hope for the future and I think for us we wanted to deliver to make the job easier and to make the team grow.

AS: Congratulations, great job.

MG: Thank you!


I spoke to Pinfold and Barry after the podium presentations:

Post-race, Andrew Pinfold- OUCH presented by Maxxis, 2nd place on stage

Amy Smolens: How did the finale unfold?

Andrew Pinfold: Oh, it was really good. I had Karl Menzies taking care of me and it was excellent. I'm glad, I put a lot of pressure on myself today to do well, I just said to myself that it's the last race of the season and I don't want to have any regrets and I did a good sprint and it was a bike throw almost at the end for the victory so I'm happy with that.

AS: What did you feel like when you knew that you had that podium spot?

AP: More relief than anything. I mean this is what this team has hired me to do and I'm really glad I'm able to show that I'm capable. For me personally it's been a bit of a difficult year, just kind of transitioning, but hopefully I'll carry the momentum over the winter and be able to keep it rolling.

AS: How big is it for the team and for you to outsprint a guy like Thor Hushovd?

AP: Oh, it's huge! It just shows the level of North American cycling's quite high and these guys are all racing hard to the very end so it's great for me to be able to do that.

AS: And if you couldn't win, is it nice to have another Canadian, Martin Gilbert from Planet Energy, get the victory?

AP: Oh, that's great, I'm happy for Martin, he's a good guy and he's a good guy off the bike and we joke around a lot so it's a lot of fun. And to be able to see Steve (Bauer,) that's huge for that team and I'm really excited for them.

AS: Great, thanks, congratulations.

AP: Thank you.


Post-race, Michael Barry - Team Columbia, Drury Hotels Most Aggressive Rider

Amy Smolens: What was in your mind when you bridged to the break and then attacked? Was a stage victory in your mind?

Michael Barry: Yeah, I had good legs today so I just wanted to use them. I mean the goal is a stage victory. We needed to have someone in the breakaway so I attacked to get across to the group and then we'd see what happened. I know it was going to be tough, because it definitely was a circuit that was advantageous to the peloton, so we had to ride hard up front and got caught on the last lap.

AS: Team Columbia certainly did what you wanted to do getting Marco Pinotti on the final podium, too.

MB: Yeah, we accomplished our first goal today and that was to put Marco on the podium, and our second goal was to get a stage victory, we missed out on that but we raced aggressively all day and I think we can be happy with our race.

AS: When you look back at your time racing with Team Columbia, what will be your fondest memories?

MB: Spending time in the bus with the boys and racing together with them. We have a great atmosphere on the team, we're all really good friends. It's interesting, the team races really well together because of that, we all trust each other and know our roles within the team, so the veterans help out the younger riders. I don't know - we just have fun. It's like the same ambiance I felt when I was racing with the National Team as a junior or the Provincial Team when I was a junior. We just have a good time.

AS: And do you feel like whichever team it is that you'll be racing with next year, which you won't tell us yet, you will be able to replicate that ambiance?

MB: Sure, yeah, that's an important thing for me and that's one thing I considered when I was considering different teams.

AS: Great, congratulations.

MB: Thank you.

The Canadians saved the best for last here at the 2009 Tour of Missouri!

Final GC to come