E-mail
PrintST. CHARLES — Danny Pate of Colorado Springs, Colo., rode to a solo stage win and George Hincapie of Greenville, S.C., kept his race lead for the fourth day Saturday in stage 5 of the Tour of Missouri.
Pate (Team Slipstream), a former junior world time trial champion, escaped from two other riders to claim the 126.8-mile Jefferson City to St. Charles road race in 4 hours, 50 minutes and 21 seconds.
John Fredy Parra (Tecos de la Universidad) of Colombia was second, and Jeff Louder (Health-Net) of Salt Lake City third, both 8 seconds behind Pate.
Hincapie (Discovery Channel), who assumed the lead after winning stage 2, finished in the main field 2:26 behind Pate. He maintained his 1 minute, 40-second race advantage over William Frischkorn of Boulder, Colo.
David Canada (Prodir-Saunier Duval) of Spain is third overall, trailing by 2:22, with Dominique Rollin of Canada fourth, trailing by 2:23.
Pate and seven other riders broke from the main field after about 25 miles, steadily built more than a six-minute lead and remained in front for the rest of the stage.
Para and Louder emerged from the lead group with about three miles left, but Pate caught and then passed the duo with slightly more than one mile left.
Barring catastrophe, Hincapie, a stage winner and 11-time Tour de France finisher will claim the inaugural race’s overall title Sunday.
The field will complete seven, 10-mile circuits around Union Station in St. Louis on Sunday afternoon in a 74-mile stage not conducive to large finishing time margins.
Comments