Cuban speedster Ivan Dominguez earned the first yellow jersey of the inaugural Tour of Missouri, blasting across the line at the end of stage 1 on a sun-splashed Tuesday in Kansas City. The Toyota United rider’s triumph came at the expense of Canadian Zach Bell (Symmetrics) and American Kyle Wamsley (Navigators) who were second and third respectively on the opening day of this six-stage, 600-mile race that will head west to east across the Show Me State before finishing on Sunday in St. Louis.

Dominguez’s run to the finish concluded a 3:05:37, 85.2-mile day in the saddle on an out-and-back course that started and finished in this city replete with fountains that’s lovingly known as Paris of the Plains. In between trips through the city, the 116-rider field enjoyed a mostly flat course with two sprint points and a gentle KoM.

The newly-crowned U.S. champ meets fans

Photo: Casey B. Gibson

“We have good riders in the U.S. so I am not surprised to see us finish top three on the stage,” said Dominguez of the North American-based team sweep at this race that includes a pair of ProTour outfits plus a handful of European-based continental teams. “I was expecting to see guys from U.S. and Canada place well. It’s not the first time we have good riders who can place against the Europeans. The level in the U.S. is getting higher every year. Every time the European teams come they see we have good riders here.”

After the usual flurry of early attacks, the day’s move of consequence came together at the 21-mile mark with Philipp Mamos (Team Sparkasse), Tim Johnson (Health Net-Maxxis), Valeriy Kobzarenko (Navigators), Tyler Wren (Colavita-Sutter Home) and James Meadley (Jelly Belly) peeling off the front and quickly growing a gap that was bolstered by a timely call of nature for the field. It wasn’t long before the chalkboard read four minutes.

“We were thinking it might be another situation like the Tour de Georgia, where Discovery puts two of their GC guys in the breakaway and just sits up and the race goes up the road,” said Johnson, whose team’s main hope was to set up sprinter Karl Menzies. “We wanted to be attentive and make sure we covered every breakaway. I happened to get in the break, and I looked around and saw there were only four other guys, and I thought, ‘Oh boy, here we go.’”

Big crowds at the start

Photo: Casey B. Gibson

Johnson and his fellow escapees spent the bulk of the ensuing two and a half hours taking even pulls along the rural roads north of Kansas City.

“The team’s plan was to get a rider in a breakaway and be aggressive,” said Jelly Belly’s Meadley. “When I saw the break going I went. It was a long way out, but everyone worked well together. The wind wasn’t too bad, only in a few spots. But once we came into the finishing circuits it was clear we would be brought back.” Indeed, after seeing the gap crest above five minutes, a Discovery Channel-led peloton slowly began the pullback. It was down to 3:45 as the break headed southward across the Heart of America Bridge, which crosses the Missouri River and signals entry into Kansas City.

From there riders headed onto the final finishing circuit, a narrow, flat 5.3-mile loop that traced up and down Ward Parkway in the city’s ritzy Country Club Plaza neighborhood. Five became three soon after, with Johnson, Kobzarenko and Mamos soldiering on while Wren and Meadley drifted back to the bunch. It was a fruitless effort, though, and the field was all together with 5.3 miles to go.

Several counter attacks ensued, including late charges by Discovery Channel’s George Hincapie and Ryder Hesjedal (Health Net-Maxxis). But neither rider managed to pull off any end-of-race heroics, leaving the day’s spoils to Dominguez.

BMC and Slipstream give chase

Photo: Casey B. Gibson

“Before the race a lot of people came to me and said they thought I would win today,” the Toyota-United rider recalled. “I said, ‘Thanks, but don’t put too much pressure on me.’ I know there were a lot of people expecting me to win. But coming into the last three laps I started getting cramps on the climb. I wasn’t expecting to see a climb and I was losing position each lap, so I didn’t know if I could make it.”

Dominguez was suffering on the soft rise midway through the finishing circuit and needed an assist from teammate Chris Wherry just to stay in contention. But after falling back to 40th place at one point, the Cuban charged back to the front, taking victory ahead of Bell and Wamsley.

Fans you wouldn't usually see at the Tour de France.

Photo: Casey B. Gibson

“Zach made the right move,” said Dominguez of the second place finisher who was first to go out of the bunch. “If I was not there Zach would have won it for sure.”

Racing continues Wednesday with stage 2’s 125.6-mile run from Clinton to Springfield. After a one-hour transfer to the start, the peloton will meander through flat and occasional rolling terrain south to Springfield. Barring the unforeseen, this should be another day for the sprinters.

“I’d like to keep it as many days as I can, but it’s not easy,” said Dominguez about defending his yellow jersey. “Tomorrow’s stage has a lot of rollers, and it is longer, so it will harder than today. I am going to try to keep it.”
VeloNews' Neal Rogers contributed to this report