The Rolla Downtown Business Association (RDBA) wants to remind students of Missouri S&T that the Tour of Missouri (TOM) will be centered in the downtown area, as well as on the Missouri S&T campus.

On Thursday, September 11, 120 professional cyclists will finish Stage Four of TOM in front of Castleman Hall, located on Tenth Street between Main and State Streets. The world class cyclists will be arriving in Rolla around 2:30 p.m. from their start location in Lebanon, Missouri that morning. The race will include a three lap circuit around the Rolla downtown area and out 12th Street to Ber Juan Park and back in on tenth Street. Admission to this event is free of charge. A Health and Wellness Expo will also be a part of this event which is expected to bring out-of-state and international visitors to our community.

We invite Missouri S&T students to join us in experiencing the TOM. Many of these cyclists have just returned from Beijing where they competed in the 2008 Olympics and many of the riders competed in the Tour de France. The world's top team, Columbia, will be led by the 2007 TOM defending champion George Hincapie.

Other teams include: U. S. team Garmin-Chipolte, Italian team Liquigas, U. S. team HealthNet presented by MAXXIS, U. S. team BNC, U. S. Rock Racing, U. S. team Bissell, U. S. team Colavita Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light, U. S. team Jelly Belly, U. S. team Kelly Benefits Strategies-Medifast, Mexico team Tecos, Canada team Symmetrics, Netherlands team Rabobank, which is sending its development squad, and Germany team Sparkasse.

The event will have live coverage in over 100 foreign countries in addition to the Fox Sports Mid-West and other national media.

The start of Stage Five will be held in nearby St. James the next afternoon, September 12th.

More than 500 volunteers are needed to host an event of this magnitude. To register as a volunteer, log on to www.tourofmissouri.com and click on Get Involved.

For more information, contact RDBA President Lonna Sowers, (573) 364-8600, Local Organizing Committee Chairman Scott Caron at (573) 341-2386 or Missouri S&T Student Life Director Mark Potrafka at (573) 341-4993.