Haedo takes stage four of Tour of Missouri
He received the yellow jersey in Jefferson City.
Published Sept. 11, 2009
Argentine cyclist Juan Jose Haedo won stage four of the Tour of Missouri on Thursday in Jefferson City. J.J. Haedo's winning time was 4:07.55, and he is now the overall tour leader.
In the post-race jersey ceremony, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder pulled the yellow jersey over Haedo's shoulders.
"I'm not the best guy in the first day's stage race, so it's kind of something to get the jersey," Haedo said. "Fourth day in a row and I finally got it."
Thor Hushovd and Dario Cataldo took second and third place, respectively. They also stand in the same positions in the overall standings.
Haedo become the third cyclist to don the yellow jersey so far in the Tour. Mark Cavendish won stages one and two and Hushovd won stage three.
In its third year, Steve Brunner, tour director of marketing and business development, said the Tour of Missouri is one of the top five races outside of Europe.
Brunner said all the top Americans but Lance Armstrong are on the roster.
The race features a group of cyclists who have competed in the world's top races.
"When we started on Monday, we had 24 competitors who competed in the Tour de France on seven different teams," Kinder said.
Brunner called the 148 competitors in the Tour of Missouri "one of the best fields that has ever been in North America."
Before stage four, the tour lost one of its biggest names and hottest performers.
Cavendish was in second place overall behind Hushovd as of Wednesday, but withdrew from the race the night before due to illness.
His team, Columbia-HTC, will continue the tour without him.
"What happened is, overnight, that Cavendish, who led the first two days, had to pull off because of fluid in his lungs," Brunner said. "He's fighting a bronchial virus right now, so he had to pull out and he's going to Kansas City to fly back to Europe."
The competitors started at 2 p.m. in St. James on their 109.2-mile race to the capitol with stage three winner Hushovd in the lead.
Michael Creed, Bernard Van Ulden, Jeffry Louder and Brad White broke away from the rest of the field and tried to set their own pace. Once they reached the Jefferson City limits, they were caught by riders they thought they'd left behind.
Haedo appeared in front during the final uphill charge to the finish line.
The pattern of 75-mile plus treks with the entire field racing side by side will be broken up by Friday's time trial event in Sedalia. There, each cyclist will tackle the 19-mile course with no other riders: only the bike, the road and the clock.
Stage six starts in Chillicothe and goes 110.3 miles to St. Joseph. The terrain, described as moderate to hilly, could present challenges if winds pick up during the race.
The Tour concludes Sunday with a 72.3-mile route that begins and ends in Kansas City.
