The bookends of the Tour of Missouri belonged to Ivan Dominguez. The story belonged to George Hincapie.

Dominguez, a Cuban who rides for Toyota-United, won the final stage here with the same victory salute he gave on the opening stage in Kansas City. He finished seven laps of the 10.6-mile circuit that started and ended at Union Station in 2 hours, 37 minutes, 13 seconds, less than a bike length ahead of Andrew Pinfold of Symmetrics Cycling and Dominique Rollin of KodakGallery-Sierra Nevada.

Hincapie finished in a pack seven seconds behind the leaders, keeping the yellow jersey and taking the overall victory. Will Frischkorn of Slipstream-Chipotle finished second overall, 1:38 behind Hincapie, and Rollin's strong performance Sunday moved him into third, 31 seconds behind Frischkorn.

Hincapie's victory served as a fond farewell to cycling in America for the Discovery Channel Cycling Team. Sponsored until 2005 by the U.S. Postal Service, the team won eight Tours de France but is disbanding at the end of the season. Winning the last race for the team in the U.S., Hincapie said, was bittersweet.

"I'm really happy to win the Tour," he said, "but it's really sad to see the team end. We made history in the sport. Having the whole Tour de France team working for me was special, and I'll miss those guys."

The overall victory was a reward for Hincapie, who has been with Discovery since its beginning in 1997 but will ride for T-Mobile next year. He was a support rider in 11 Tours de France, including the team's eight victories — seven by Lance Armstrong and this year's by Alberto Contador. The course in Missouri offered Hincapie a chance to shine. A bigger, more powerful rider than Armstrong or Contador, Hincapie's style was suited to the rolling hills of the state. The terrain and duration of the race also provided ideal training for Hincapie's next race, the world championships in Stuttgart, Germany, at the end of the month.

"At this time of the year, it's important to keep the legs going but not overdo it," Hincapie said, noting that many of the contenders for the world championships are competing in the three-week Vuelta a Espana or the Tour of Poland, run in brutal weather and filled with crashes. "I think a lot of guys are overdoing it. I had to dig deep in the time trial and in the breakaway of stage 2, but the team took care of me the rest of the way."

In the final stage, four riders jumped to an advantage of 3:15 after four of the seven laps. Each member of the quartet was more than 16 minutes behind Hincapie in the overall classification and enjoyed the ride at the front until the final lap. The gap closed with each lap, and the group was caught about two miles from the finishing line.

Dominguez said he made his move with about 300 meters to go, but when no one was with him, he slowed down, waiting, then jumped again about 150 meters from the finish.

"Before the race, people said they were putting money on me to win," said Dominguez, who earned his 14th victory of the season. "I said, 'Ai, yai, yai!' But I kind of like hearing a lot of people yelling my name."

The end was marred by the crash of Springfield native Brad Huff of Slipstream-Chipotle about 100 meters from the finish. He lay on the ground for about 90 seconds, then got back on his bike and rode across the line.

He joined the other Missouri natives in disappointment in the race. St. Louisan Dan Schmatz of BMC suffered a broken collarbone when he hit an armadillo on Stage 2. Farmington’s Brian Dziewa, who rides for Jelly Belly, finished 98th of 99 riders who finished the race.

Despite the trio's misfortunes, the six-day, 563-mile race, Gov. Matt Blunt said, "exceeded our aspirations." Crowds estimated at 55,000 lined the course Sunday. And riders were ready to return next year.

"If we had our way, we'd do 10 of these races and not have to go to Europe," Hincapie said.

knelson@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8233