SPRINGFIELD, MO. — A breakaway in cycling is a bit like alchemy. With just the right riders and just enough cooperation, a group can build a lead too large for the peloton to overcome.

A dozen riders that included race favorite George Hincapie of Team Discovery found the magic formula Wednesday. Hincapie then marked a series of attacks in the final three kilometers and launched a charge 200 meters from the line for the stage victory and overall lead in the Tour of Missouri. American Frank Pipp of HealthNet-Maxxis was second by less than a bike length. Canada's Dominique Rollin of KodakGallery Pro Cycling was a half-length behind Pipp in third.

"It was a tough race," Hincapie said. "I was the favorite in the group, so everyone was watching me. I had to do a ton of work to chase down the attacks."

The group formed about 30 miles from the start in Clinton and gained a 30- to 40-second lead over the peloton that held for about six or seven miles.

"They were going hard to catch us, but we were going hard," Hincapie said. "Somebody had to crack."

The 11 teams with a rider in the group had no reason to chase down a teammate. The other teams expected Toyota-United to pick up the pace, since their rider, Ivan Dominguez, was wearing the yellow jersey as overall leader. But Toyota-United was in bad shape. The team lost one rider Tuesday because he failed to finish in time. Another abandoned the race Wednesday because of a knee injury. A third was suffering from asthma. A fourth crashed twice in the early miles of the stage. Down to three riders to protect Dominguez and control the pace, Toyota-United was outmatched. None of the other teams without a rider in the lead group took charge.

At one point, the peloton slowed to 16 mph — the average speed of a 48-year-old, slightly overweight housewife riding on Grant's Trail — and the breakaway stretched its lead to 17 minutes. The peloton closed the gap slightly in the final stretches, finishing 14 minutes behind Hincapie.

A lead of that size can disappear in a race such as the Tour de France, where climbers can take back more than 20 minutes a day on long mountains or make up as much as six minutes on a time trial. Because the Tour of Missouri has neither long, hard climbs nor multiple, long time trials, the gap will be nearly insurmountable.

Thus, the overall winner of the Tour of Missouri is likely to be one of the dozen riders in Wednesday's breakaway. Whoever performs best in today's time trial in Branson will take the lead and could hold it to St. Louis. Hincapie, 34, is considered the best time trialist among them. After 11 years with Discovery, riding in the team's Tour de France victories, he's a sentimental favorite of the crowd.

Hincapie also is hungry for victory. He broke his wrist at the Tour of California in February and missed the early races in Europe, known as the classics, which are his strong suit. He finished second last week in the USA Cycling Professional championships and is motivated to win in Missouri, where the terrain favors a big, strong rider who can motor over rolling hills.

How big is Hincapie? Listed at 6-3, his head hit the top of the top of the stage when he took his place on the podium.

"It's definitely not wrapped up," he said. "Cycling is a hard sport, and there are no gifts."

Cycling was hardest Wednesday on St. Louisan Dan Schmatz of Team BMC, who hit an armadillo about seven miles into the stage and suffered a broken collarbone.

Yes, an armadillo.

Pipp was just in front and to the right of Schmatz, a graduate of Parkway West, when he saw the critter. Pipp veered a little farther right.