The Tour of Missouri might be the biggest cycling happening in the state's history, but it's not the first. The state has made an impact on the sport for more than a century:

The 100-mile World Championship Bicycle Race was held in Clarksville in 1887. Clarksville, located in Pike County, boasted of a network of paved roads that was accessible to cyclists who traveled up the Mississippi by steamboat from St. Louis.

The St. Louis Cycling Club, founded in 1887, is the oldest continuously active racing and touring club in the U.S.

The Penrose Park Velodrome in north St. Louis was the site of the U.S. National Championships in 1962, the 75th anniversary of the St. Louis Cycling Club. The U.S. championships were held in Forest Park in 1936 and 1953.

John Howard of Springfield was the first American to win a major international bicycle race, a gold medal at the Pan-American Championships in Cali, Colombia, in 1971. He is a three-time Olympian and holds the land-speed record for a bicycle at 152 mph.

Brad Huff of Fair Grove, about 12 miles north of Springfield, is the only American rider to win both the U.S. Amateur Criterium Championship and U.S. Professional Criterium Championship in consecutive years, 2005 and 2006. A rider for the Slipstream-Chipotle team, Huff is a candidate for the U.S. Olympic Team in Beijing.