Update: Tour of Missouri Officially Canceled

In an e-mail to sponsors and other interested parties late this afternoon, Steve Brunner, sales director of marketing agency KOM Sports, announced the cancellation of the 2010 Tour of Missouri.

​"[W]e regrettably inform you of the cancellation of the 2010 Tour of Missouri," Brunner writes. "While we worked honestly and diligently through the process on a presenting sponsorship for Missouri Tourism, things beyond our control have officially forced us to make a final decision on the 2010 event."

As RFT has reported

A spokesman for Nixon told RFT the issue was purely about money, not spite.

www.tourofmissouri.com

Last year was the last year for the Tour of Missouri.

​Brunner's announcement administers the coup de grace to one of the most high-profile bicycle races in the U.S. World-class cyclists were set to compete in the 5-day, 500-mile event, which was to have begun August 31, with a start and finish line tentatively slated for St. Louis.

The full text of Brunner's e-mail, which was forwarded to RFT, appears after the jump, along with a link to the Tour of Missouri press release that accompanied it. (Earlier coverage of the event's death spiral can be seen here and here.)