KANSAS CITY — George Hincapie sent the Discovery Channel cycling team off in bittersweet style, winning the inaugural Tour of Missouri in the team's last race on American soil.

The race marked a happy crossroads for Hincapie, though, who was changing teams for the first time in his 15-year professional cycling career. Hincapie found himself in a comfortable rut, riding at the side of Lance Armstrong for seven Tours de France and helping Alberto Contador to the 2007 title and grabbing bits of glory for himself that culminated with his victory here.

Before last year's Tour of Missouri, he signed with T-Mobile, which had changed directions under Bob Stapleton. With new sponsor, Columbia Sportswear, Hincapie will return to defend his title, starting today in St. Joseph.

"I was really excited about changing teams," Hincapie said. "I knew Bob and believed in him and thought I would fit in pretty well."

Stapleton had cleaned house of the T-Mobile management and riders caught in a decade of doping scandals. In their place was a blood-monitoring program and a stable of young talent, including the unbridled Mark Cavendish, winner of two stages of the Giro d'Italia, four stages of the Tour de France and a world track cycling champion. Stapleton needed a steadying force.

"At the first camp, I roomed with Mark and we hit it right off," Hincapie said. "My role has been really fun with the team."

That role has many facets. Hincapie, 35, is foremost a mentor to young riders such as Cavendish, 23. Rather than forge a rocky relationship like Nuke LaLoosh and Crash Davis in "Bull Durham," the two get along, in the words of Forrest Gump, "like peas and carrots."

"It's wonderful with George," Cavendish said. "We're both quite tidy, actually, so we get on well."

On the bike, Hincapie fills the role of team player. He'll set a torrid pace at the front of the pack to launch Cavendish or Gerald Ciolek to a sprint victory. He'll set the tempo in the mountains for Columbia's young climbers, such as Linus Gerdeman. He'll protect the team leader, such as Kim Kirchen, who defended the yellow jersey in the Tour de France for four stages.

"He gives more support on the bike than any other teammate," Cavendish said. "He's got so much talent and no ego. But he does even more off the bike. He clicks with everybody. He's done so much, and he's so humble."

On cue, Hincapie deflected praise from himself for the team's 70 victories this season, more than any other Pro Tour team.

"Everybody's willing to put it on the line for each other in every race," he said. "It's been an honor to be part of that."

Personal success has been more elusive. He won stages in the Tour of California and Dauphine Libere, the precursor to the Tour de France. But Hincapie's string of hard luck continued at the race he covets, Pairs-Roubaix. He has finished second and fourth, but a fall into a ditch, a broken stem and a flat tire have cost him victories. This year, he broke a wheel and finished ninth.

Hincapie's Tour de France was one of the toughest of his 13. He crashed hard on Stage 18, finishing the race with bandages stretching from his left hip to below the knee. The injuries lingered through the Olympics, his fifth, where he finished 40th on a hot, steamy day.

"I'm fine now, but I wasn't recovered at the Olympics," Hincapie said. "I didn't have great legs, and the conditions were really harsh."

But as he returns to defend his title, life on and off the bike is pretty good. He married a Tour de France podium girl, has a 3-year-old daughter named Julia, a 3-month-old son named Enzo, sportswear and management companies that will keep him happy, healthy and wealthy after he hangs up the bike.

"I don't know if I'm more comfortable, but I am happy," Hincapie said. "The team is more laid-back and fun. But, I guess it's easier to have fun when you win as much as we do."

Columbia has come to Missouri to win. In addition to Hincapie and Cavendish, the roster includes three-time world time-trial champion Michael Rogers of Australia and Marco Pinotti, who recently won the Tour of Ireland.

"I think we have a really well-balanced team," he said, "and any one of us could be the favorite for the overall win."