The conventional wisdom about enticing Lance Armstrong to compete in the Tour of Missouri is for the race organizers to attract a cancer-fighting health center as a major sponsor.

The theory is that such a sponsorship would meld perfectly with the stated reason for Armstrong’s comeback – the fight against cancer through his Livestrong Foundation.

This fight took the seven-time Tour de France winner to the Tour Down Under in January for his comeback debut and to Mexico last week to serve as the official starter of Vuelta a Murcia. It’s also one of the reasons he’s competing in Italy in the Giro d’Italia for the first time.

Missouri Tourism, Missouri Farm Bureau of Jefferson City, Drury Hotels, Emerson and Edward Jones already have signed on as sponsors, along with MAVIC, Yakima, and Hincapie Sportswear. A cancer tie-in, either with a St. Louis health center or a Kansas City health center, would seem a perfect fit for Armstrong, who could make the Tour of Missouri his last race of the season.

And if all else fails, maybe he can be guilted into competing here as a payback/favour to his buddy Kevin Livingston, the St. Louis area cyclist who sheparded Armstrong to his first two Tour de France wins and is the competition director for his home state’s bicycle race.

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