Columbia, MO - Jeff Louder of the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented Maxxis took one more step toward sewing up the Michelob Ultra King of the Mountains competition at the Tour of Missouri Friday.

St. Charles, MO - Jeff Louder of the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented Maxxis quickly removed any drama that might have existed in the Michelob Ultra King of the Mountains competition at the Tour of Missouri.

With three KoM limbs out on the road in the 204 km stage from state capitol Jefferson City to St. Charles, one rider could technically overtake Louder in the competition if Louder was shut out and another rider took first over almost every climb.

But for a second consecutive day, Louder found himself in the stage's main break, this time without the company of his next closest rival in the competition, Darren Lill (Navigators).

Louder needed only to finish fourth over the first KoM and he would wrap up the jersey for the remainder of the race. Just to make sure, he sprinted across the line first, taking the maximum points ahead of Anthony Colby (Colavita-Sutter Home) and Bernardo Colex (Tecos), then scooped up 3rd place points on the second KoM of the day.

Louder's big breaks

After spending 134 km in the break on Friday, Louder said he was tired and wouldn't necessarily hunt for another break to join today. But ever the opportunist, he yet again found his way into the main break, and proceeded to stay there with his break-mates for another 150 km. And this time, instead of being swept up by the sprinters' teams 5 km from the line, the break stuck.

The break achieved a maximum advantage of around 6:20, with the Discovery-led peloton content to keep them on the slightly longer leash today. By the time Discovery relinquished control of the front of the main bunch, the gap was too big to close before the finish in St. Charles.

Nine of the original 10 break-aways remained when the attacking started in the final 15 km. The most dangerous move came from Matti Helminen (DFL-Cyclingnews) and Tecos rider Colex with about 3 km to go. They got a gap of about 0:15, with the seven remaining riders disorganized in their chase. Finally, Danny Pate (Slipstream-Chipotle) caught and immediately countered the move to solo in for the win from about 700 meters out.

Louder was able to catch the other two escapees, but he wasn't able to get past John Freddy Para (Tecos), and settled for a hard-earned 3rd place on the stage to go with his Michelob Ultra King of the Mountains jersey. With no KoM points on offer during the final stage circuit race in downtown St. Louis, the jersey is his to keep.

Notes

In Missouri, Louder accomplished what he came close to doing in Georgia, where he held the KoM jersey for the first four days of the race, but relinquished it to teammate Ryder Hesjedal in the brutal Stage 5 up to Brasstown Bald. This week, he took the jersey on the first day and has held onto it for the entirety of the race.

The top riders in the general classification all finished together in the main bunch, so there was no change in the overall classification.

It was a good day for alumni of the 2004 Health Net Presented by Maxxis squad (aka NRC1X). Not only did Danny Pate win today's stage in Missouri, Jason McCartney won today's stage of the Veulta a Espana.