KBIA Local
(2010-05-27)
ST. LOUIS, MO
(KBIA) -
The Tour of Missouri is officially off the calendar for 2010. The race's organizer has decided to walk away from the bike race's fourth year. As Rachel Lippmann reports from St. Louis, supporters are blaming politics for its demise.The current budget from the Missouri Tourism Commission does not contain the one million dollars needed to support the race. It could be added - but officials with the Commission have said all along that the event is too expensive in tight budget times.
Tour of Missouri chairman Mike Weiss doesn't buy that explanation.
"In every conversation I had with the Division of Tourism, we'd want to talk about Lance Armstrong, and what we would get would be a dialogue about the discord between the governor and the lieutenant governor."
Peter Kinder, the Republican lieutenant governor, is one of the race's biggest proponents. He's also a likely challenger to Governor Jay Nixon in 2012
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