Reigning American time trial champion David Zabriskie (Garmin-Slipstream) snatched the overall lead in the Tour of Missouri today by winning the race’s fifth stage individual time trial around the Missouri State Fairgrounds. Zabriskie finished with 30 seconds ahead of Sweden’s Gustav Larsson (Saxo Bank) and put another 14 seconds into third place finisher American Tom Zirbel (Bissell Pro Cycling).
The 30.5km fast and flat course was perfect for Zabriskie, who clocked a time of 36 minutes and 30 seconds with an average speed of 50.3 kilometers per hour. But for Larsson the course itself wasn’t the only obstacle to overcome. The Swede was forced to slow down several times during his ride due to inexperienced motorcycle pilots on the course.
With today’s time trial on tap, race leader Juan Jose Haedo knew his time in the leader’s jersey would be short, but his win the previous day to score yellow was a welcome notch in his 2009 win column.
Tomorrow the riders race 110.3 miles from Chillicothe to St. Joseph and then finish the Tour off with a circuit race held in Kansas City on Sunday.