With High Road having withdrawn its request for an invitation to the Vuelta a Espana tour in September, the Tour of Missouri stands to benefit.

I spoke with High Road owner Bob Stapleton at the Tour de Georgia last week, and he said the team is committed to bringing a good squad to the Tour of Missouri in September to help George Hincapie defend his title. Hincapie won the yellow jersey last September in the inaugural ToM.

With High Road searching for a long-term U.S. sponsor, the Tour of Missouri is more important than the Vuelta for the team, which Stapleton says can operate this season and next season without a primary sponsorship. The Tour of Britain and the Tour of Ireland are going on at the time, and High Road riders such as Mark Cavendish, Bradley Wiggins and Roger Hammond from the UK will be featured there.

The Vuelta ranks third on the list of three grand tours, after the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia. And this year, with the Vuelta coming after the Olympics and before the world championships, it may not be able to draw the best riders … well, with the exception of Astana.

Astana received un-vitations from the Giro and the Tour this year, so its only grand tour will be the Vuelta. Team boss Johan Bruyneel told me Sunday in Atlanta that Astana will bring its A-team to the Vuelta, with U.S. national road race champ Levi Leipheimer joining team leader Alberto Contador on the squad. With Chris Horner and Chechu Rubiera riding support, Astana could put Contador and Leipheimer on the Vuelta podium, and maybe Andreas Kloden as well if he’s “on form.”

Bruyneel also told me that, barring roster-depleting injuries, Astana will have a team in the Tour of Missouri this year. Not the big names, obviously, because of the Vuelta, but a team nonetheless. Having received such a warm welcome and having had such a positive experience at the Tour of Missouri last season in the Discovery Channel team’s last hurrah, Bruyneel wants his new team to be part of the Show-Me state’s race.

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