September 7, 2009 (St. Louis, Missouri) – Mark Cavendish (Gbr) Columbia-HTC has won the opening 120.7km Stage 1 St. Louis Circuit Race over Juan Jose Haedo (Arg) Saxo Bank in second and Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team in 3rd. We caught up with Cavendish’s team mate, and top Canadian pro Michael Barry, to find out about today’s stage and his new team.

Michael Barry Interview

How are you feeling coming into the Tour of Missouri where you won a stage last year?
Michael Barry: I feel great. My form is better than it has been in a long time and I am sure that the racing here will take my fitness to another level. I am motivated to have a good race here and to finish the season off well as I have done lots of good quality training in the last few months and feel healthy and fresh.

Your team mate Mark Cavendish won today’s opening stage 1 – tell us how it unfolded.
MB: Today’s stage was one we knew he could win so we set out to control the race from the start. I spent the entire stage riding on the front with a few teammates and then we led out Mark for the victory. It was a straightforward day and one that we could control from start to finish.

How does Cavendish handle the pressure to win race after race…?
MB: He is incredibly focused and motivated. I know he thrives off of the pressure – he really doesn’t want to let the team and his fans down so he always gives it everything he can if he has the chance at a victory. He has confidence in us and we have confidence in him which is what brings the team so many victories.

What’s the team strategy for this year’s Tour of Missouri and what’s your role – is a repeat stage win on the radar?
MB: We can win several stages as there will be many field sprints but we can also win the overall as we have several good time trialists here. On the hilly days I will cover the breakaways and flatter stages I will be on the front riding for Mark. If I have the opportunity to go for a stage win I will surely take it but my main goals are to help the team win and to build my fitness for the Road Worlds (selection will be made on the 14th – I hope to go) and end of season Classics. .

Columbia-HTC has announced their 2010 roster and many top riders, yourself included, are looking for new teams – any news on that front?
MB: I am leaving Columbia-HTC after several great years as I felt it was the right time to make a change. There will be an announcement made in the coming days as to where I will be racing. I am excited about the change as it is in a completely new environment which will provide me with new challenges and opportunities.

There are lots of Canadians racing here – how does that affect your racing?
MB: It doesn’t change my racing much although it is nice to see so many Canadians racing at top level races as it will only help the sport grow and prosper in Canada.

All the best here and with the rest of the season.
MB: Thanks

Results

1. Mark Cavendish* (Team Columbia-HTC) 2:43:56
2. Juan Jose Haedo (Team Saxo Bank)
3. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo Test Team)
4. Francesco Chicchi (Liquigas)
5. Martin Gilbert (Planet Energy)
6. Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Colavita/Sutter Home Presented By Cooking Light)
7. Antonio Cruz (BMC Racing Team)
8. Alex Candelario (Kelly Benefit Strategies)
9. John Murphy (Ouch Presented By Maxxis)
10. Michael Friedman (Garmin-Slipstream)
11. Davide Malacarne* (Quick Step)
12. Davide Frattini (Colavita/Sutter Home Presented By Cooking Light)
13. Danilo Wyss* (BMC Racing Team)
14. Karl Menzies (Ouch Presented By Maxxis)
15. Dario Cataldo* (Quick Step)
16. Matthew Wilson (Team Type 1)
17. Frederique Robert* (Quick Step)
18. Kiel Reijnen* (Jelly Belly Cycling Team)
19. Janez Brajkovic (Astana)
20. Daniel Oss * (Liquigas)
21. Timothy Duggan (Garmin-Slipstream)
22. Lars Ytting Bak (Team Saxo Bank)
23. Neil Shirley (Kelly Benefit Strategies)
24. Dominique Cornu* (Quick Step)
25. Brett Lancaster (Cervelo Test Team)
26. Guillaume Boivin* (Planet Energy)
27. Gregory Rast (Astana)
28. Danny Pate (Garmin-Slipstream)
29. AMARAN Luis Romero (Colavita/Sutter Home Presented By Cooking Light)
30. Matthew Rice (Jelly Belly Cycling Team)
31. George Hincapie (Team Columbia-HTC)
32. Keven Lacombe* (Planet Energy)
33. Florian Stalder (BMC Racing Team)
34. Kevin Seeldraeyers* (Quick Step)
35. Marco Pinotti (Team Columbia-HTC)
36. David Veilleux* (Kelly Benefit Strategies)
37. Jason Donald (Garmin-Slipstream)
38. Bradley White (Ouch Presented By Maxxis)
39. Frank Pipp (Bissell Pro Cycling)
40. Anthony Colby (Colavita/Sutter Home Presented By Cooking Light)
41. Jason Mccartney (Team Saxo Bank)
42. Michael Barry (Team Columbia-HTC)
43. Brian Vandborg (Liquigas)
44. Gustav Larsson (Team Saxo Bank)
45. Alexandr Dyachenko (Astana)
46. Fabio Calabria* (Team Type 1)
47. Scott Zwizanski (Kelly Benefit Strategies)
48. Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing Team)
49. Nicki Sorensen (Team Saxo Bank)
50. Ryan Roth (Planet Energy)
51. Steven Cozza* (Garmin-Slipstream)
52. KVIST Thomas* Vedel (Quick Step)
53. Jackson Stewart (BMC Racing Team)
54. Edward King (Cervelo Test Team)
55. Marcel Wyss* (Cervelo Test Team)
56. Ryan Anderson* (Kelly Benefit Strategies)
57. Michael Rogers (Team Columbia-HTC)
58. Rory Sutherland (Ouch Presented By Maxxis)
59. Thomas Frei* (BMC Racing Team)
60. ULDEN Bernard Van (Jelly Belly Cycling Team)
61. Michael Creed (Team Type 1)
62. Floyd Landis (Ouch Presented By Maxxis)
63. DE WALLE Van (Quick Step)
64. David Zabriskie (Garmin-Slipstream)
65. William Frischkorn (Garmin-Slipstream)
66. Levi Leipheimer (Astana)
67. Darren Lill (Team Type 1)
68. Chris Anker Sorensen (Team Saxo Bank)
69. Bernhard Eisel (Team Columbia-HTC)
70. Dan Bowman (Kelly Benefit Strategies)
71. Reid Mumford (Kelly Benefit Strategies)
72. Charles Bradley Huff (Jelly Belly Cycling Team)
73. Francois Parisien (Planet Energy)
74. Andrey Zeits* (Astana)
75. Jeffry Louder (BMC Racing Team)
76. Andrew Randell (Planet Energy)
77. Yaroslav Popovych (Astana)
78. Bruno Langlois (Planet Energy)
79. Christopher Baldwin (Ouch Presented By Maxxis)
80. Addy Engels (Quick Step)
81. Marcus Ljungqvist (Team Saxo Bank)
82. Jeremy Vennell (Bissell Pro Cycling)
83. Will Routley (Jelly Belly Cycling Team)
84. Andrew Guptill (Colavita/Sutter Home Presented By Cooking Light)
85. Andrew Bajadali (Kelly Benefit Strategies)
86. Alessandro Vanotti (Liquigas)
87. Kanstantsin Siutsou (Team Columbia-HTC)
88. Jens Voigt (Team Saxo Bank)
89. Andrew Pinfold (Ouch Presented By Maxxis)
90. Craig Lewis* (Team Columbia-HTC)
91. Jeremy Powers (Jelly Belly Cycling Team)
92. Valerio Agnoli* (Liquigas)
93. Mathias Frank* (BMC Racing Team)
94. Andy Jacques-Maynes (Bissell Pro Cycling)
95. Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell Pro Cycling)
96. Anibal Borrajo (Colavita/Sutter Home Presented By Cooking Light)
97. Tomas Vaitkus (Astana)
98. Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas)
99. Matthew Crane* (Jelly Belly Cycling Team)
100. Steve Morabito (Astana)
101. Kyle Wamsley (Colavita/Sutter Home Presented By Cooking Light)
102. MENEDEZ Joaquin Novoa (Cervelo Test Team)
103. Christopher Jones (Team Type 1)
104. Phillip Gaimon* (Jelly Belly Cycling Team) 2:44:25
105. Charly Vives* (Planet Energy) 2:44:25
106. Omer Kem (Bissell Pro Cycling) 2:44:33
107. Jeremy Hunt (Cervelo Test Team) 2:44:35
108. Tyler Wren (Colavita/Sutter Home Presented By Cooking Light) 2:44:39
109. CHAVEZ Moises Aldape (Team Type 1)
110. Timothy Johnson (Ouch Presented By Maxxis) 2:45:10
111. Shawn Milne (Team Type 1) 2:45:44
112. Valery Kobzarenko (Team Type 1) 2:45:44
113. Cody O’Reilly* (Bissell Pro Cycling) 2:45:47
114. Tom Zirbel (Bissell Pro Cycling)
115. Peter Latham (Bissell Pro Cycling)
116. Andreas Klier (Cervelo Test Team)
117. Heinrich Haussler (Cervelo Test Team)
118. Christian Vandevelde (Garmin-Slipstream)

*U23