KBS Accepts Invitation to Race Tour of Missouri
Minneapolis, Min., July 1, 2009 – The Kelly Benefit Strategies pro team has accepted an official invitation to race the Tour of Missouri, September 7-13, 2009. It is the second year the KBS squad has competed.
The team follows a successful debut at the 2008 race with high hopes for this season's event. In 2008, under Jonas Carney's direction, the team placed riders in the break every day for the first four road races of the event and racked up several key placements. Keven Lacombe finished third on stage five, Candelario sixth in the opening stage and David Veilleux won most aggressive rider jersey (stage five).
"We are extremely happy to be invited back to the Tour of Missouri," says Performance Director, Jonas Carney. "Our team is super motivated. This season we are much stronger, have some major wins under out belt – including some international racing – and are ready to race. Missouri suits our team's abilities and we have high hopes for the event."
Carney and General/Performance Manager Ken Mills are at work fine tuning the roster, which won't be finalized for several weeks and depend on upcoming races and athlete fitness levels. The team prepares for Missouri after winning the Tour of Thailand, the Vuelta Ciclista del Uruguay and the Tour de Beauce as well as wins at the Tour of America's Dairyland, Tour of Winghaven (NRC) and victory in the National Canadian U23 Time Trials.
"We have an incredibly talented group of guys and they're all pulling together," adds Carney. "Missouri is a tough, competitive crowd but we're racing at the top of our game and there is no question we can generate results."
For the first time this year, the 600-mile Tour of Missouri routes east to west, starting in St. Louis and finishing in Kansas City. The race takes place over seven stages and seven days and includes two circuit races (St. Louis and Kansas City), one individual time trial (Sedalia), and four point to point road races: Ste. Genevieve to Cape Girardeau, Farmington to Rolla, St. James to Jefferson City and Chillicothe to St. Joseph.
