Old Town Florissant will go quiet for cars and loud for cyclists on Labor Day, when the entire race route through the historic district closes to vehicular traffic for roughly 12 hours so professional riders can compete in the Tour de Florissant. Street closures begin at 6 a.m. and are expected to lift around 6:30 p.m. on September 7, according to the City of Florissant. Driveways exiting onto the race course will also be closed to vehicles for the day, though emergency vehicles will be unaffected by the closures.
The Tour de Florissant caps the four-day City of Florissant festival known as the Bommarito Audi West County Gateway Cup, which this year marks its 40th edition, according to Big Shark Bicycle Company. The race is billed as the final leg of the professional bicycle races that weekend and is described by organizers as one of St. Louis' most exciting sporting events. Big Shark, the St. Louis retailer that has produced the event since it was founded in 1993 by local cyclist Mike Weiss, estimates the four-day festival draws between 30,000 and 40,000 spectators annually.
A Flat Course Through Historic Streets
The Old Town Florissant course threads through the neighborhood's namesake historic district, hitting Harrison, St. Joseph, Washington, Rue St. François, Brown, N. Jefferson, St. Antoine, N. Lafayette, Boone, Clark, N. Elizabeth, St. Michael, New Florissant, and St. Denis streets before finishing flat in front of historic City Hall. The route includes six turns and one mild climb along the way. The Florissant Old Town Historic District itself was established by municipal ordinance in 1969 and covers roughly 156 city blocks and 124 historically significant properties dating from 1790 to 1940, per the same account from Gateway Cup organizers — making the race course itself a tour through one of the oldest settlements in St. Louis County. Florissant, the largest city in St. Louis County with 52,533 residents as of the 2020 U.S. Census, hosts the closing leg of a race weekend with national implications.
The Gateway Cup serves as the sixth and final stop of the 2026 American Criterium Cup, the national professional road criterium series, as reported by Cyclingnews. Series champions are crowned a day earlier at the Giro della Montagna, before the pro field rolls into Florissant to close out the festival. The 2026 American Criterium Cup guarantees an overall series purse of $140,000, split equally between men's and women's professional fields, with each host event required to pay out at least $8,000 in equal prize money per gender, Cyclingnews reports.
Kids' Races, Food Trucks, and Free Rides for Local Riders
Beyond the pro field, the Gateway Cup event includes kids' races, charity rides, live entertainment, and food trucks throughout the weekend. For local riders looking to join in, the Tour de Florissant day also features 15-mile and 28-mile recreational community rides starting in Old Town Florissant, plus a 14-mile designated Ride to the Race route connecting Forest Park to Florissant via regional greenways, according to Gateway Cup. USA Cycling-licensed junior riders age 18 and under can race for free thanks to sponsorship from Renaissance Financial Services, while adult amateur entries run $65 and professional entries cost $75.
Stationary Bikes Raise Money for Parkinson's Research
Alongside the road racing, Pedal in Place at the Race offers a stationary cycling fundraiser with an exclusive finisher medal for participants, who can register individually or create a team. The event supports the Davis Phinney Foundation for Parkinson's and the Bernard Norman Frank Foundation for Parkinson's. It was established by St. Louis area resident Karen Frank in honor of her father, Bernard Norman Frank, after her own young-onset Parkinson's diagnosis, according to FOX 2 St. Louis. The fundraiser raised more than $65,000 at last year's Gateway Cup alone.
The stationary bikes are more than a side attraction. The Davis Phinney Foundation cites research showing high-cadence cycling — pedaling above 90 RPM — can reduce Parkinson's motor symptoms by as much as 35%, a finding rooted in clinical studies from the Cleveland Clinic establishing forced high-cadence cycling as a non-pharmacological therapy for Parkinson's patients. Pedal in Place at the Race pairs outdoor CycleBar spin classes with adaptive options and seated exercises so participants of varying mobility can take part alongside the live pro races.
For Old Town Florissant residents and drivers, the takeaway is simple: plan around a full day without car access to driveways along the course, from early morning until early evening on Labor Day, with emergency services still able to respond throughout the closure window.
