2007 Tour of Missouri
September 11-16, 2007
Race Reports by Kirsten Robbins

Stage Six (September 16, 2007; St. Louis Circuit Race): The Colavita/Sutter Home Men’s Cycling Team presented by Cooking Light ended the Tour of Missouri as the top-ranked team in the final stage.  Sprinter Charles Dionne finished just outside the podium in 4th place, followed by Davide Frattini in 10th.  Tyler Wren used his sniper instincts in another successful all-day breakaway in the final stages of the seven-lap circuit race. Tyler worked hard to maximize a three-minute time gap on the sprint-hungry peloton. The break was caught with half a lap to the finish where the team took over to put Charles in good position to sprint to the line.  Adam Bergman took 15th for the stage and Andy Guptill maintained his 11th place position in the general
classification.

Anthony Colby

Stage Five (September 15, 2007; Jefferson to St Charles): The Colavita/Sutter Home Men’s Cycling Team presented by Cooking Light placed another two riders in the top 10 during stage five of the Tour of Missouri and solidified second place in the KOM competition. The team was represented in several of the early breakaways during the 123-mile road race.  Anthony Colby bridged across to the winning break of nine riders and rode into second place in the climber’s competition after winning two of the three hill sprints, placing 5th in the stage.  With a two-minute lead on the peloton, Anthony was able to watch his teammates set up sprinter Charles Dionne to win the bunch sprint and take 10th place for the day.


Stage Four (September 14, 2007; Lebanon to Columbia): Top 10 finishes for Charles Dionne and Davide Frattini of the Colavita/Sutter Home Men’s Cycling Team in the second to last stage of the inaugural Tour of Missouri. A flurry of attacks set the pace during the first half of the 133-mile stage. Colavita/Sutter Home sent one rider after another on the attack until a group of 10 riders escaped, including Dan Vaillancourt. The sprinters’ teams put out a strong chase from the peloton and the break was absorbed three miles from the finish line.  With less than one mile to the line, Colavita/Sutter Home lined up a lead out beside the opposing teams in a fight for the race victory.  Charles flew to the line but placed just outside the podium in 4th place, followed closely by Davide in 7th.

Andy Guptill

Stage Three (September 13, 2007; Branson time trial): Andy Guptill of the Colavita/Sutter Home Men's Cycling Team presented by Cooking Light moved into 11th on the overall classification following one of the most difficult time trials on US soil. At 18 miles, the event was relatively short for a time trial but the course was grueling, combining mostly uphill terrain with a three-kilometer KOM sprint to the finish line. Colavita/Sutter Home's Anthony Colby placed 21st, 4:25 behind Levi Leipheimer, Discovery Channel’s Tour de France time trial winner and podium finisher.

Stage Two (September 12, 2007; Clinton to Springfield): Andy Guptill of the Colavita/Sutter Home Men’s Cycling Team presented by Cooking Light rode bravely into 8th place for the 125-mile road race and moved into 8th place in the overall. As the team continued to ride aggressively, Andy jumped into the winning break just 15 miles into the stage. The 12-rider break included a member of each of the top-ranked teams competing in the inaugural event and gained a maximum time gap of 17 minutes over the peloton.  Upon entering the first of three finishing circuits, the breakaway riders saw an opportunity to crack a stage win and began attacking one another relentlessly to the finish line.  The peloton came barreling onto the finishing circuits where the time gap was reduced to 14 minutes. Colavita/Sutter Home’s Davide Frattini finished third in the bunch sprint to take 15th in the stage.

Stage One (September 11, 2007; Kansas City):   Domestic and Pro Tour teams lined up to kick off the inaugural Tour of Missouri in downtown Kansas City with an 85-mile road race on undulating terrain, buffeted by higher-than-usual winds.  The eight-rider roster for the Colavita/Sutter Home Men’s Cycling Team presented by Cooking Light includes Tyler Wren, Charles Dionne, Andy Guptill, Adam Bergman, Dan Vaillancourt, Anthony Colby, Davide Frattini and Luca Damiani.  After the first KOM, Tyler Wren seized the opportunity to represent Colavita/Sutter Home in the most significant breakaway of the stage.  Tyler explains, “The break was pretty hard and we were all working really hard out there, especially because it was windy and the rollers really got to us, they took a lot out of all of us in the break. We are a team that uses momentum and so we are set up for a great week with everyone evenly covering moves and working well together in the finishes.” Tyler and four companions were caught on the on the finishing circuits with one lap to go, five miles to the finish line. His seven teammates focused on setting up for the sprint finish where Luca Damiani and Charles Dionne placed 9th and 10th, respectively.