The current world’s No. 1 & No. 2 ranked teams QuickStep of Belgium and Saxo Bank of Denmark, have agreed to compete in the third Tour of Missouri professional cycling race, scheduled for September 7-13, 2009.

QuickStep is the team of international superstar Tom Boonen, who won this year’s famous Paris-Roubaix for the third time, Stijn Devolder of Belgium, and Australian Allan Davis, who has led the UCI’s Pro Tour standings for much of the year.

The addition of the powerful Saxo Bank team, which is led by superstars Fabian Cancellara (Olympic and world champion time trialist) of Switzerland; brothers Frank and Andy Schleck (winner of last weekend’s Leige-Bastogne-Leige) of Luxembourg and Germany’s Jens Voigt, will mark the seventh entrant expected to line up at the 2009 Tour de France this summer.
It will be the first time for both teams racing at the Tour of Missouri.

“With the addition of QuickStep and Saxo Bank, this will be one of the best fields assembled on American soil,” said Jim Birrell, the event’s race director. “The stature of the event continues to grow, and the participation of the top two teams in the world re-enforces how far the Tour of Missouri has matured in three short years. This is shaping up to be a special kind of race and we expect people from around the country to see the world’s best come to Missouri.”

Lt. Governor Peter Kinder said: “We have exceeded our expectations with the field of this race. No doubt this will translate directly into more spectators and more economic impact for the state and host cities.”

Saxo Bank joins one of the top fields assembled outside of Europe this season.
Previously announced are the United States-based teams Garmin-Slipstream and world No. 5-ranked Columbia-High Road, as well as the world No. 3-ranked Cervelo Test Team, 2009 Tour de France favorite Astana, and one of Italy’s top pro tour teams Liquigas. Domestic-based Jelly Belly and recent Paris-Roubaix team entrant BMC Racing have also been announced.

“The Tour of Missouri has quickly grown in stature and quality each year, which is reflected in the quality of the teams and riders who will compete in the 2009 race,” said Sean Petty, the Chief Operating Officer for USA Cycling and a member of the UCI’s Road Commission. “Undoubtedly this has become one of the best races outside Europe in three short years. This directly correlates to the high level of marketing and management behind the event and the key support from the state.”

A total of nine teams have been announced to date. A total of 15 teams will be slotted in for the September line up.

The race will be contested over seven days and seven stages. There will be 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 is expected to be more than 600 miles.

Though a stellar world-class field was presented last year, the three-year-old race is expected to be even better as the Tour of Missouri was granted an upgrade to one of the top five-ranked events outside Europe by international and national federation’s for cycling. The upgrade will guarantee more top teams. Additional teams will be announced in coming weeks.