Few things about the final stage of the Tour of Missouri went off as expected. First, standing water, tree limbs and debris in Forest Park forced the course to be shortened. Second, the rain and wind cleared in time for the riders to finish five laps of a shorter than planned course.

Third, Francesco Chicchi of the Italian Liquigas team sprinted past Britain's Mark Cavendish of Team Columbia, crossing the line in 1 hour, 57 minutes, 6 seconds.

"He was tremendously fast," Cavendish said. "That's the first time someone passed me since March."

The only near certainty at the start was that Christian Vande Velde would maintain his overall lead and the yellow jersey. Vande Velde, who rides for Garmin-Chipotle, finished safely in the pack and held his 18-second margin over Michael Rogers of Team Columbia. Svein Tuft of Symmetrics was third overall, and defending champion George Hincapie of Columbia was fourth.