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Olympic medalists could race from the Pony Express statue in St. Joseph to the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City in September.

Tour of Missouri organizers revealed the professional bicycle race’s first 90-mile route Monday.

Kansas City may get the last word, but not before the world-class cyclists pedal through Downtown St. Joseph, its Parkway system and the South Side — all part of the kickoff to the eight-day, 10-city competition beginning Sept. 8.

In its second year, Kansas City launched the tour in 2007. St. Louis can claim the finish for both years.

“We were faulted last year for not going above the Missouri River ... We answered that criticism by getting Northwest Missouri into Stage 1,” Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder said during a St. Louis news conference Monday. Reporters could listen live via conference call.

The race will come on the heels of the summer Olympic Games and is expected to attract medalists.

“This has a phenomenal place in the international calendar,” race spokesman Steve Brunner said from St. Louis.

The event will be televised and viewed by people in roughly 100 countries via webcast.

The race will start at noon Sept. 8 on Francis Street behind City Hall, race promoters announced Monday. The cyclists will head west and take a right turn around the Pony Express statue onto Frederick Avenue, Jeff Corbett, race assistant technical coordinator, told the News-Press. They’ll follow Frederick to Noyes Boulevard, where they’ll travel south to the Parkway.

That’s where cyclists are expected to lose the slower processional pace and pick up speed.

They’ll continue on the Parkway through Bartlett Park, past the Bode Ice Arena and Benton High School until making a right onto Alabama Street.

“If you want to see some grueling climbs ... stand on the other side of 22nd Street,” Forces of Nature bike shop owner Shawn Force recommended for spectators.

Mr. Force, one of several local bike enthusiasts who lobbied for St. Joseph’s race selection, also suggested watching the race from Benton High.

The route then moves left onto King Hill Avenue, which the cyclists will follow out of town.

Race director Jim Birrell described the total 600-mile race as more challenging than the 500-mile race in 2007.

When cyclists leaving St. Joseph turn right onto Missouri Route JJ toward DeKalb, Mo., they’ll encounter their first climbing contest, the Mich ULTRA King of the Mountain Competition. Points will be awarded to the first three cyclists to reach the top of a hill near the turn-off.

From there, the 15 teams will weave through rural state highways south to Weston, Platte City and Parkville. The race ends at Ward Parkway and Broadway Street at the Plaza in Kansas City.

Assistant Public Works Director Andy Clements said the city of St. Joseph needs at least 200 volunteers to stand along alleys, driveways and intersections of the route so that bicyclists don’t inadvertently veer off the beaten path.

Photo by Todd Weddle / St. Joseph News-Press / Purchase this photo

Cycling enthusiast Shawn Force of Forces of Nature Cycling & Outdoors, works on a bicycle in his store in St. Joseph Monday afternoon. Organizers with Missouri’s professional bike race, Tour of Missouri, released the first route that starts in St. Joseph and ends in Kansas City. ‘St. Joseph has some of the best biking-friendly terrain,’ Mr. Force said about the impact of the race for the area. ‘I think once people see what we have here, they will come back.’

To volunteer, e-mail local organizer Wes Revels at ws2mbrev@stjoelive.com, or go to www.tourofmissouri.com and click on “Get Involved.”

The city also is planning a health and wellness expo geared for the pre-race weekend. Coupled with the Coleman Hawkins Blues Festival at Felix Street Square on Sept. 6 and Sept. 7, the city will close streets surrounding Civic Center Park for food and street vendors, children’s cycling races and urban cycling performances.

The race’s local organizing committee is planning two USA Cycling time trials for amateur and semi-pro bicyclists at 8 a.m. that Saturday and Sunday at Bartlett Park.

Anyone interested in participating can e-mail chairman Richard Sipe at rsipe@sbcglobal.net.

Also planned at the expo is a Pony Express re-enactment, mayor’s tricyle race and healthy cooking and nutrition demonstrations.

Alyson E. Raletz can be reached at alysonraletz@npgco.com.