As St. Joseph gears up to serve as host of an international bike tour, people who say "bicicleta," "zà xÃ-ng che" and "fahradfahren" are readying their pens and suitcases for the home of the Pony Express.

Plan on images of the Downtown Pony Express statue to splash newspaper pages, TV broadcasts and Web pages around the world as outside media converge on St. Joseph for a day.

"It literally puts a city on a map," Tour of Missouri spokesman Steve Brunner said of the attention.

The eight-day, 10-city competition kicks off near the statue at noon Sept. 8. Cyclists will end the 90-mile route of the first day at the Kansas City Country Club Plaza. The entire race ends in St. Louis.

For logistical purposes, the three-hour live Webcast through NBC-owned Universal Sports will not highlight St. Joseph, as it focuses on the end of the races.

But the race's start in St. Joseph will show up on the 30-minute recap on Fox Sports Midwest and Fox Sports Kansas City at 11 p.m. Sept. 8.

The national cable channel Versus (St. Joseph Cablevision Channel 53), will air a two-hour program on the tour, from start to finish, on Sept. 21.

And be prepared for an onslaught of St. Louis and Kansas City media here on race day, as well as the Associated Press and national cycling publications from around the country.

Mr. Brunner said "Velo News" is sending six reporters, Cyclingnews.com is sending four and Road Magazine is sending six.

Roughly 10 international publications are expected to cover the event.

Among them are El Periodico in Mexico, El Tiempo in Colombia and La Gazzetto de la Sport in Italy. Staff from a trade magazine in China also plan coverage.

"Cycling in the rest of the planet is just huge," said Road Magazine editorial director Neil Browne, who covered the Tour of Utah Friday.

His California-based magazine plans a roughly 24-page pictorial package devoted to the Tour of Missouri, which will include shots from day one in St. Joseph.

Mr. Browne said the Missouri race will receive such prominence and play because of its positioning on the world calendar - between the Olympics and the Vuelta a Espana bike tour, which ends in Madrid, Spain, on Sept. 21.

Reuters TV service picked up the tour's video news releases in 2007 and this year many European and South American news services are interested in them, too - making the releases available to at least 21 countries, Mr. Brunner said.

As the race gets closer, more media outlets from the countries of the athletes will opt to travel to Missouri to cover the races. And expect more than just pedaling pieces from the international journalists.

"They feature the flavor of the cities much more than domestic journalists," Mr. Brunner said. "It's just natural - that's the way they've been bred to cover cycling in their own countries."

Mr. Browne, who covered the Missouri race for Road Magazine during its inaugural run in 2007, said the international journalists are writing for an audience that actually follows the cyclists from country to country, so they'll want to give race information and tips on things to do in St. Joseph while they're there.

He said also to expect countless bloggers in St. Joseph for the race.

City Communications Manager Mary Robertson said she'll create press packets with particular emphasis on St. Joseph history, monuments and architecture for nonlocal media. She anticipates German reporters also will cover the St. Joseph start.

"I'm hopeful they can pick up on small-town living at its best," Ms. Robertson said. "... I would hope worldwide that everyone have some knowledge of the Pony Express."

Alyson E. Raletz can be reached at alysonraletz@npgco.com.