Tour of St. Louis Kicks Off the Midwest Cycling Season in Style

On a Sunday afternoon in late March, a man named Dangerfield rode his e-bike from the Central West End to Forest Park in a floral shirt and pink shorts. He didn’t know quite what he was in for. Minutes later, 40 cyclists came screaming past him through the park — looping by the Muny, past the History Museum — and he was sold. “This is a great way to get people thinking about riding bikes,” he said.

That was the final day of Tour of St. Louis, the annual cycling race hosted by Big Shark Bicycle Company, which unfolded over two shockingly hot days across three locations in the city. The roughly 400 cyclists — ranging in age from 9 to 65 and including college teams from Michigan, Indiana, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, and Marian — were shaking off the winter rust and competing in front of hundreds of spectators.

“It’s sort of an opening weekend event for the local and regional calendar,” says Mike Weiss, event director and owner of Big Shark. “A lot of people are hungry to get the season started. And the college athletes are pretty high caliber. Marian, for example, is one of the best teams in the country.”

The event is St. Louis’ second-biggest cycling weekend of the year, behind only Labor Day Weekend’s Gateway Cup. “Tour of St. Louis is like triple-A,” says Weiss. “Gateway Cup is Major League.” In the pro category, St. Louis’ own Chaney Windows & Doors team swept the field, led by speedster Owen Gillott.

The racing began Saturday, March 21, in Wildwood, where riders attacked 11 miles of rolling West County roads in a time trial — just them, the clock, and the early-season sting in their legs. The action then shifted to Carondelet Park, where a criterium packed with tight technical turns culminated in a punishing uphill finish. On Sunday, the peloton moved to Forest Park for a fast, scenic loop past the Missouri History Museum and the Muny — the kind of course that makes spectators stop and stare.

Even ones in pink shorts on e-bikes.

Keep scrolling for more photos from the event.

Author: Shawn Donnelly is the managing editor of Terrain.

Top image: Marcus Janzow.