Tour of Missouri patron is leaving gov’s mansion
Just what Gov. Matt Blunt’s decision to not seek re-election means to the Tour of Missouri is way down the list of major issues, but, hey, this is a bicycling blog, so that issue is at the top of our list!
The gov was the driving force in creating and supporting the bicycle race, which debuted to rave reviews both here and abroad last year. The state invested $1 million in tourism dollars into the Tour of Missouri, basically putting Missouri on the international bicycling map.
Who outside of Missouri knew how beautiful the state is and that it’s a hot-bed of cycling? Thanks to Blunt and his sidekick Peter Kinder, the word not only is out in the professional peloton but residents in big cities and small towns across Missouri embraced the event as their own.
Blunt’s decision to not seek re-election probably won’t have any effect on the Tour of Missouri this year. The ToM already is on the international calendar and some teams, including Astana of Johan Bruyneel, have the Tour of Missouri on their schedules.
Beyond this year, the hope is that the next resident of gov’s mansion takes a shining to the Tour of Missouri and sees it as a value to the state.
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A couple of Republicans that are likely to run in his place _ Peter Kinder and Rod Jetton _ are members of his fitness/tourism posse. Kinder was front and center on the podium after each stage, and Jetton has run the Spirit of St. Louis Marathon. They probably would continue to support the race.
Don’t know where Jay Nixon would fall on this issue. His son is a runner, and I’d be surprised if he missed every stage of last year’s Tour. He probably could make a good argument that the tourism dollars didn’t reap much of a reward in terms of out-of-state visitors for the race, but he had to see the good will it created in every town on the route.