David Zabriskie won the first stage race of his career when he safely negotiated the final day of the Tour of Missouri.
Garmin rider completes first stage race success
David Zabriskie won the first stage race of his career when he safely negotiated the final ride through the streets of Kansas to secure the Tour of Missouri title.
The American, who led by 30 seconds heading into the final 115km run, was shielded by his Garmin-Slipstream team-mates as Martin Gilbert of Canada took the stage win.
Sweden's Gustav Larsson remained in second overall with Marco Pinotti third as the riders completed seven laps of the 16.4km circuit in two hours, 33 minutes 11 seconds.
Zabriskie, whose previous best finish was second in the Tour of California, hopes the race will continue in the future despite being without a sponsor after a three-year deal with the state ended.
"It would be very disappointing if it didn't continue," he said. "It's important to have races like this in America, it's continued to grow.
"The fans, as you can tell, love it, the riders definitely like it - everyone enjoys racing here."
According to a study, last year's race drew 435,000 fans and brought in over $29m to the state coffers, while this year's event is expected to exceed those numbers.
