The 2008 Tour of Missouri cycling event on Sept. 8-14 will include stretches of Route 66, including the towns of Rolla, Lebanon, Springfield, St. James and St. Louis as host cities.

It appears that Stage 4, which goes 105 miles from Lebanon to Rolla, makes use of the Mother Road extensively.

Here’s the news release that announced the course layout Wednesday:

After an exceptionally successful inaugural Tour of Missouri in 2007, the Show Me State will again welcome 120 of the world’s elite cyclists on a 600-mile point-to-point race, to be held September 8-14, 2008. The second edition of the Tour will include seven days of racing, from Kansas City to the Ozarks, over the Katy Trail, along Route 66 and the historic Missouri River, with a fantastic finish under the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. The race is sanctioned by the UCI and USA Cycling, the international and national governing bodies for cycling, respectively. It is ranked as a 2.1, second in ranking to only the Tour de Georgia and Amgen Tour of California in North American cycling.

And Rolla, which missed out hosting the event last year, was pumped about gaining a spot this year, reported the Rolla Daily News.

Rolla was disappointed when it was not selected for the inaugural race last year, but only excitement prevailed when the Rolla contingent at the news conference made no effort to hide its elation with the announcement about 2008. Some compared the reaction to winning an Oscar.

Mayor Bill Jenks didn’t mince words. He did a fist pump from the podium and uttered an Army yell that quieted the rest of the room.

“Darn right we’re happy,” Jenks said. “We’ll be ready when the Tour hits Rolla,” Jenks said. “I guarantee you it will be tough for any other city to outdo Rolla.”

For the second straight year, Preservation Oklahoma named Route 66 motels on its list of the 15 Most Endangered Historic Places, reports the Daily Oklahoman.

The list is just a sample of thousands of landmarks across the state in desperate need of attention and protection, Preservation Oklahoma spokesman Mark Beutler said in a prepared statement.

While the list does not ensure the protection of a site or guarantee funding, the designation has been a positive tool for raising awareness and rallying resources to save endangered places, he said. “It is important for Oklahomans to understand that preserving historic architecture is not a mere exercise in appreciation or nostalgia for ‘old things,’” said John Feaver, the preservation group’s president.

“It is, rather, a powerful development tool for promoting sustainable communities and economies and for controlling the rising costs and environmental disruptions or urban sprawl,” Feaver said.

Here’s the list last year of the endangered Route 66 motels of Oklahoma.

Route 66 motels were placed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2007. Route 66 motels also were placed on the World Monuments Fund’s 100 most threatened sites in 2007.

A few weeks ago, Richard L. Gonzales filed a lawsuit to force City of Albuquerque and its Landmarks and Urban Conservation Commission to issue a demolition permit for the historic El Vado Motel.

Gonzales wants to raze the historic Route 66 motel so he can build luxury townhouses there, but he has been thwarted at every turn by the city.

On Wednesday, District Court Judge William F. Lang dismissed the suit. In the one-page ruling essentially said that Gonzales was not entitled to seek the demolition permit because he had already successfully appealed the LUCC’s landmark designation for El Vado. The landmark designation was subsequently awarded a second time.

Score another one for the preservationists.