Cavendish seeing arches (OK, just one Arch.)

Today marks the start of the third Tour of Missouri, and in lieu of racing in his sorta-native Britain later this week, the Manxman Mark Cavendish will suit up for Team Columbia on the starting line in St. Louis today. Last year Cavendish won three of the seven stages in the Tour, winning the sprint title. This year's defense is spurred by six stage wins at le Tour de France, and he'll have strong competition from the Norwegian sprinter Thor Hushovd.

But that won't be Cavendish's only worry, as in addition to his quest for a second straight Edward Jones sprint jersey, he'll be alongside team leader George Hincapie, who will aim for his second overall jersey. The 2007 winner will aim to reclaim the yellow jersey from last year's winner, Christian Vande Velde from Team Garmin-Slipstream. Both American riders, however, also face tougher competition, as seven of the 14 teams present in this year's race were present in France.

Several top riders, including Hushovd, Yaroslav Popyvich and Jens Voigt, have opted out of this month's la Vuelta de España in favor of 600-plus miles of relentless rolling hills in circuits, city-to-city and an individual time trial in the Show-Me State. Also opting for the stateside race is longtime cycling commentator Paul Sherwen.

The Tour this year will reverse direction, starting in St. Louis and finishing in Kansas City, both major cities hosting a circuit race in their respective downtowns. Also this year, the Tour makes first-time visits to Ste. Genevieve and Cape Girardeau in Southeast Missouri, plus Sedalia and Chillicothe. Absent from the Tour are the familiar destinations of Springfield and Branson, and Columbia, as the city cited conflicts with the home opener for Mizzou Football.

Tour organizers will make available Webcasts of each stage's final three hours on their Web site http://tourofmissouri.com and via Universal Sports Circuit finishes in St. Louis and Kansas City will also be covered by KMOV and KMBC, respectively.