10 Speed is en route to Jefferson City for the announcement of the Tour of Missouri route for 2008.

As Kathleen Nelson first reported, the ToM has added an extra day and will run from Monday, Sept. 8, through Sunday, Sept. 14. New info she has passed on … five stages will finish with circuits,  four cities have been added to host stages, and Columbia has been subtracted.

Here’s the rundown of the stages that will be announced this morning.

– Stage 1, Monday, Sept. 8: St. Joseph to Kansas City

– Stage 2, Tuesday, Sept. 9: Clinton to Springfield.

– Stage 3, Wednesday, Sept. 10: Branson time trial

– Stage 4, Thursday, Sept. 11: Lebanon to Rolla

– Stage 5, Friday, Sept. 12: St. James to Jefferson City

– Stage 6, Saturday, Sept. 13: Hermann to St. Charles

– Stage 7, Sunday, Sept. 14: St. Louis circuit

The specific routes and stage distances are still to be determined.

Comparing the 2008 ToM with last year …

– Stage 1: Last year was an out and back, starting and ending in Kansas City, with the turn-around just about halfway to St. Joe anyway, so all they’re doing is flattening out the route and giving St. Joe a key role as the start of the race.

– Stages 2 & 3: I suspect these stages will remain essentially the same as last year. Big George Hincapie made his decisive move on Stage 2 last year, and Levi Leipheimer won the Branson time trial.

– Stages 4 & 5: This is where the extra stage comes in. Last year, Stage 4 was a mammoth 125-mile trek from Lebanon to Columbia. This year, we have two stages — Lebanon to Rolla, and St. James to Jeff City.

– Stage 6: Last year, the stage started in Jeff City and ended in St. Charles. Hermann was a pass-through town. This year, it hosts the start with St. Charles at the end. This will be the only non-circuit finish of the six road stages.

– Stage 7: I expect something similar to last year for the finish in STL.

All but one city from last year made the cut again. St. Louis, St. Charles, K.C., Jeff City, Springfield, Clinton and Lebanon (where all the school children turned out to send off the riders) are back. I’m a little surprised Columbia didn’t make the cut. The turnout was good in Columbia last year, but then again, if the Tour of Mo is here to stay as we hope,  Columbia will be back in the future, along with stops in St. Gen and Hannibal down the road. 

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