Most — well, all — of the prerace Tour of Missouri buzz focused on the U.S.’s two big teams, Columbia and Garmin-Chipotle, but that doesn’t mean the race will be solely the Columbia/Garmin show.

“Every team has something to prove,” defending ToM champ Big George Hincapie said Monday morning in St. Joseph before Stage 1. “We’re not underestimating anybody.”

Sure enough, with Bissell’s Tom Zirbel in the three-man breakaway that built a lead of almost 5 minutes halfway through Monday’s stage, Columbia amassed at the front of the peloton and did the lion’s share of the work in reeling in the breakaway. Zirbel finished second in the U.S. time trial championships last weekend, and he would have been a threat for the yellow jersey if he had gotten away Monday.

“I gave it a shot,” said Zirbel, who was joined in the breakaway by Jonathan Sundt of Kelly Benefit-Medifast and Martin Kohler of BMC. “We worked well together. We had a slim chance of staying away, but you’ve got to take it.”

Zirbel and his breakaway partners were swallowed up by the peloton with about 20 miles to go.

Zirbel is feeling strong so late in the race, having had an unscheduled down period after a bad crash in the Tour of the Gila.

“I broke five bones,” Zirbel said. “It took a little while  to come back, but it was like a midseason break. If your head’s right, you can come back relaxed and fresh.”

Despite his breakaway being caught Monday, Zirbel could still be in the mix for G.C. with a good time trial Wednesday in Branson. That stage is seen as the key to the race.

“A lot will come down to Wednesday,” said Garmin-Chipotle’s G.C. contender Christian Vande Velde, who also is one of the top time trialists in the field.

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