Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 2007

Atlanta – The Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team picked up its fourth top five finish at the Tour de Georgia Sunday when Ivan Dominguez finished fourth in Stage 7’s circuit race through downtown Atlanta.

Dominguez had already placed fifth on Stage 1 and Stage 6 while teammate Ivan Stevic gave Toyota-United a victory on Stage 3 in Rome on Tuesday. That win helped Toyota-United become the only domestic team to win a stage of both the Tour de Georgia and the Amgen Tour of California two years running.

“I’m very satisfied,” Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said. “I think the guys made a big presence for themselves in this race. In all the stages where we thought we had a chance to win, we did a lot of work to control the stage.”

Like it did on nearly every stage, Toyota-United drove the chase to catch a two-man breakaway that threatened to spoil the day for the sprinters. After the escapees were run down inside the final 10 km, it was Juan José Haedo (Team CSC) who took the win at the end of the 66.8-mile (107.5 km) race in a time of two hours, 25 minutes and 30 seconds. Fred Rodriguez (Preditor-Lotto) was second and Sergey Lagutin (Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) placed third.

Dominguez said he mistimed his sprint on the long, uphill drag to the line.

“Yesterday I waited too long, today I went too soon,” he said.

It didn’t help that Dominguez lost one of his leadout men, Caleb Manion, in the final three kilometers when a rider in front of him locked up his wheel going into an off-camber turn.

“When Henk and I went into the turn, we just ran out of room,” Manion said. “There was nowhere to go, so I ended up going into the gutter and then over the handlebars into the crowd.”

Manion avoided serious injury, but did come away with some road rash.

In the final overall standings, Justin England was highest-placed for Toyota-United in 54th, followed by Ivan Stevic (56th), Chris Baldwin (57th), Manion (76th), Burke Swindlehurst (78th), Vogels (92nd) and Chris Wherry (96th).

“Toyota-United has stepped up to an international level in the 16 months or so it has been part of the sport,” Vogels said. “We were very, very strong all week and between us, CSC and Discovery, we controlled the race. I think we gained a great deal of respect.”

Labels: Henk Vogels, Ivan Dominguez

The photo finish camera was needed to judge the winner of Stage 6.
Stone Mountain, Ga. - Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team's Ivan Dominguez scored his second fifth place finish of this year’s Tour de Georgia Saturday as speeds reached nearly 48 mph in the sprint on the downhill straightaway of Old Hugh Howell Road in Stone Mountain Park.

American Fred Rodriguez (Predictor-Lotto) won the 113-mile (192.9 km) race in a time of four hours and four minutes. Juan José Haedo (CSC) finished second and George Hincapie (Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team) was third.

Dominguez was fortunate to contest the final sprint considering he endured a host of mechanical difficulties right from the start of the race in Lake Lanier Islands. Toyota-United Team Mechanic Myke Berna said Dominguez broke his chain approaching the first Maxxis sprint, just 2.9 miles into the race.

Dominguez switched bikes from his primary Aloha CF1 (red) Fuji bike to his (blue) Fuji Carbon C7 frame. At the feed zone at the 45-mile mark (73 km), Berna replaced the chain on the primary bike and Dominguez switched bikes again.

“Shortly after he started riding that one, Ivan said something was rubbing,” Berna said. “We looked at it and the derailleur was bent, probably from the chain snapping. We tried to straighten it, but we ended up changing his bike again.”

Dominguez switched from his primary bike again and Berna discovered the derailleur cage was broken. He replaced it and Dominguez made his final bike change of the day.

“Those things happen,” Dominguez said. “It didn’t affect me at all at the end. Our mechanic and the whole Toyota-United team did a great job of getting me back to the front every time.”

Not only did the team tend to Dominguez, but Toyota-United spent nearly 50 miles (80 km) of the stage sharing the workload with CSC to reel in a three-man breakaway that at one point had a six-minute lead. The hard chase took its toll, with only half of Toyota-United’s eight riders finishing in the lead group of 96 riders.

Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said with Predictor-Lotto’s Olivier Kaisen in the breakaway, Rodriguez’s team enjoyed the luxury of not having to chase.

“It’s difficult to control the end with only two teams – Toyota-United and CSC – racing for the bunch sprint,” Jansen said.

After the break was caught inside the final three miles (5 km), Ivan Stevic covered a final attack inside the final kilometer to ensure the race would finish in a bunch sprint. Unfortunately, Dominguez entered the final kilometer sitting in about 20th position, he said.

“I just didn’t win,” he said. “Tomorrow’s another day.”

Jansen said in the end, the race came down to a timing issue.

“Ivan said – in hindsight – that wished he would have had time to sprint,” Jansen said. “He felt great. He loved the finishing circuit. It just didn’t result in a win.”

The final stage of the fifth edition of the Tour de Georgia will be run on the downtown streets of Atlanta Sunday, beginning at 1 p.m. The 66.8-mile (107.5 km) stage features nine circuits of 7.4 miles (11.9 km) each. There are three time bonus sprints (on laps three, five and seven) and time bonuses on the line of 10, six and four seconds

Labels: Harm Jansen, Ivan Dominguez

Brasstown Bald Mountain, Ga. – Justin England and Burke Swindlehurst finished 27th and 31st, respectively, on the difficult climb to Brasstown Bald Mountain that served as the finale to Stage 5 Friday at the Tour de Georgia.

Levi Leiphemier (Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team) won the 107-mile (172.1 km) stage in four hours, 33 minutes and 33 seconds, while his teammate, Janez Brajkovic, retained the yellow jersey as race leader by 12 seconds over Christian Vande Velde (CSC).

England (seen at right) arrived three minutes and 28 seconds after Leipheimer to move up eight places on the overall general classification. He now stands 26th, while Swindlehurst’s ride shot him up 33 places to 55th overall.

“You either have it or you don’t,” Swindlehurst said as he pulled on warm clothing for the ride back down the mountain.

Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said Swindlehurst had it Friday.

“Burke had good legs today,” Hansen said. “The good news is that we have a bunch of races coming up that really suit him.”

Toyota-United’s Chris Baldwin spent much of the day as part of an eight-man breakaway that gained a five-minute lead at one point. But he eventually lost contact with the leaders as the race reached the lower slopes of the climb to Brasstown Bald and finished in 73rd place.

“Chris was having trouble absorbing food and he just flat out ran out of energy,” Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said.

“It’s so hard to stay away all day long in this race especially with the mountain (at the end),” said Baldwin’s teammate, Chris Wherry. “But it’s certainly good for his morale.”

England said efforts by Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team and Saunier-Duval to chase down the escapees kept the peloton from getting much of a breather as it made its way over the Category 3 climb of Wolfpen Gap at the 90-mile mark.

“It was really hard the whole day,” England said. “Jittery Joe’s was working to bring it back for Cesar Grajales.”

All eight Toyota-United riders finished well within the time limit for the stage. Toyota-United is one of eight teams remaining in the race with a full complement of riders.

Friday’s stage to Brasstown Bald Mountain is the king stage of the Tour de Georgia.

It is really a good chance for Toyota-United with Chris Baldwin, Ivan Stevic, Justin England, Burke Swindlehurst and Chris Wherry. One of those guys can get in a move and be opportunistic because it’s a stage win up for grabs for those guys. So we’ll try to help them get in breaks early on. Perhaps we’ll even help them get to the front.

On Thursday, we had the individual time trial. It’s a day when the sprinters like me ride as conservatively as possible – about 75 to 80 percent. My strategy was to go full gas on the flat and not use too much power on the climbs. Having said that, riding a 30 km time trial is hard. I lost six minutes to the leader. But overall, it was pretty much a “hiding day” for the sprinters like the two Ivans and me.

Chris Baldwin and Justin did ride the time trial well. On a day like this, you go from your bike to the car or bus, straight to the massage table. Then you try to stay completely off your feet for the big stage, which will be a survival day for guys like me.

I will probably get dropped straightaway on the first climb. But typically, we fight our way back to the peloton and hopefully survive to the base of the next climb. Then the leaders go again. I’ll be riding compact gears – probably a 34-25, which pretty much equates to a 39-29 or something close to that. Like I said, it will be a matter of just trying to make the time limit for some of us. For others, like the climbers (Wherry, England, Baldwin and Swindlehurst), Friday’s Stage 5 in a great chance for us to win.”

Lookout Mountain, Ga. – With Thursday’s individual time trial further shuffling the overall standings, the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team enters the pivotal fifth stage of the Tour de Georgia with two riders in the top 35 overall and all eight members of its team still in the race.

Chris Baldwin’s 22nd place in the time trial moved him from 70th place to 30th place in the overall standings. Baldwin said the course was extremely technical, in addition to featuring a significant amount of climbing.

“It is really hard to find a rhythm on a course like that. Not just with the tight corners, but also with the undulations and the rolling hills. Your tempo is always changing.”

Justin England also made a significant climb up the general classification. His 27th place in the 18.9-mile (30.4 km) time trial moved him from 69th to 34th overall.

“There were lots of tons of hairpin turns and you constantly had to look up,” England said. “You couldn’t put your head down and go. It makes for an interesting time trial. I probably went about 95 percent today. I didn’t want to put myself in a hole for tomorrow, but it’s always good to go hard and open up the legs.”

Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel Pro Cycling) won the time trial in 44:51 while his teammate, Janez Brajkovic moved into the overall race lead by 12 seconds over Christian Vande Velde (CSC).

Friday’s 107-mile (172.1 km) race from Dalton to Brasstown Bald Mountain is expected to sort out the general classification even further, thanks to the challenging profile of the course. A Category 2 climb to Fort Mountain is followed by the ascent through Wolfpen Gap leading to the higher-than-category Brasstown Bald climb to the finish line.

Baldwin said he will tackle the Brasstown Bald climb at his own pace.

“It’s very, very long and very hard and it gets harder at the top,” he said. “So for a guy like me – who is a bigger guy and not one of the most talented climbers - it’s better to go into it within yourself than try to go up to your limit at the bottom. Last year, I just rode my own pace at the bottom and stayed with David Zabriskie and ended up doing a pretty good time.”

The race plan today was to have some of the climbers be in the move and the guys who worked hard on the front yesterday to take the day off. Ivan Dominguez and I would ride easy and just make the time cut. We rode 50 km in the first hour (32 mph) and we went onto a small road and it sort of bottlenecked and that’s when 13 riders went up the road.

We didn’t have anyone in it – one of five teams who didn’t get in the move. Predictor-Lotto put its entire team on the front and got it up to between 60 and 65 kph and couldn’t bring it back. We really weren’t interested in helping bring it back after we’d done so much work the first two days so we decided not to chase. It was pretty much over from there. The guys are not too disappointed, but we threw our overall aspirations today.

If all the riders in the race would have had to have raced, I’d say we would have lost 40 riders to the time cut today. Not one of them had a flat. There’s quite a big difference in the riders in this field so it would have been a very, very hard stage.

As it was, I felt like the worst rider in the bunch today. I was just having a bad day. So I was pretty happy to just get to the finish.

We came into this tour to win stages. With the time trial and then Brasstown up next, I think we’ll have a very good chance to do something in the last two stages.

Chattanooga, Tenn. – With a group of 13 riders up the road representing 11 different teams, it was left to the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team to decide whether to help chase down the rapidly moving breakaway or let it go on Stage 3 of the Tour de Georgia.

Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett said there was little to gain by assisting the Predictor-Lotto team – which also did not have a rider in the front group – with a pursuit.

“We’ve kind of burned up a lot of our team the past two days,” Willett said. “There wasn’t any great advantage to burn guys and we didn’t have guys to burn, either. We could have put guys in the chase, but it would not have dramatically altered the outcome because those guys up front were really motoring.”

Gianni Meersman (Discovery Channel Pro Cycling) won the 118.2-mile (190.3 km) race in four hours, 33 minutes and 33 seconds. David Canada Gracia (Saunier Duval) finished second and moved into the overall lead by three seconds over teammate Rubens Bertogliati.

Toyota-United’s Caleb Manion said he was disappointed he didn’t make it into the move that may prove to be the decisive one overall in the seven-day, seven-stage race.

“I was actually looking for that sort of move today, but I got caught a little far back but I
guess that’s racing,” Manion said. “Lotto brought it back to about 45 seconds but the boys in the front were riding extremely fast and Lotto started blowing up because nobody was helping them. So the bunch stopped riding. At that stage it was all over.”

With a mountain time trial Thursday and a rolling 107-mile stage on Friday, Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said the race for the overall will hinge on two factors over the next two days.

“I believe it’s going to be one-third time trial and two-thirds Brasstown Bald,” Jansen said. “We have great climbers, that’s why I think that it’s not over.”

Mechanic Shane Fedon’s Wednesday Stage Report
Flat Tires: None
Flat Tires, Tour to Date: One
Mechanicals: None

Thursday’s Stage 4 Time Trial Start Times For Toyota-United:
Burke Swindlehurst, 11:14 a.m.
Chris Wherry, 11:16 a.m.
Ivan Dominguez, 11:28 a.m.
Caleb Manion, 11:30 a.m.
Henk Vogels, 11:38 a.m.
Chris Baldwin, 11:43 a.m.
Justin England, 11:45 a.m.
Ivan Stevic, 12:37 p.m.

Previewing The Stage 4 Time Trial
Toyota-United climbing specialist Justin England is well-suited for Thursday’s individual time trial. But the Raleigh, N.C., native is thinking ahead to a stage where time can be gained in minutes, not seconds.

“I’ll probably save my legs for Brasstown Bald,” England said. “There’s no point in a guy like me riding hard because the best I could probably do is finish 10th on the stage. But if I can save my legs and do something on the Brasstown stage, that would be worth something.”

Thursday’s 18.9-mile (30.4 km) individual time trial begins in Chickamauga, Ga., and climbs to Lookout Mountain. The first rider goes off at 11 a.m.

Time in the Wind Tunnel Pays Off Later Down The Road
The quest to gain a competitive edge in time trials is what lured several members of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team to the San Diego Air and Space Museum's Low Speed Wind Tunnel in late January.

With experts in aerospace test engineering and related fields looking on, each rider rode for 10 to 20 minutes at a time in the wind tunnel, changing his position on the bike by adjusting the "drop" and "reach" of the bars mounted on his handlebars.

Like a downhill ski racer tucked tightly on a descent, each was looking for a position that cuts wind drag without reducing power to the pedals. That meant technicians had to adjust time trial handlebars up and down and forward and back.

"There is a difference between the ability to produce power and the ability to be aerodynamic," said Chris Baldwin, who won the US National Time Trial Championship in 2003 and 2005. "There are positions that are very aerodynamic but impossible for you to pedal."

Ivan Stevic celebrates the biggest win of his young career.
Rome, Ga. - Ivan Stevic of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team charged out of the pack on the final trip up Clocktower Hill in Rome and soloed away to win Stage 2 of the Tour de Georgia.

The two-time Serbian national champion scored the biggest win of his young professional career by comfortably winning Tuesday’s 135-mile (217 km) race in five hours, 35 minutes and 27 seconds. Juan José Haedo (Team CSC) and Fred Rodriguez (Predictor-Lotto) took second and third, respectively, two seconds later.

Stevic said he had targeted the stage from Thomaston to Rome since missing the race last year while working out visa problems that kept him from competing.

“Watching Yaroslav Popovych win it, I thought this should be one of the races that I try to win,” he said. “And today, my dream came true.”

The 5-foot-7, 154-pound second-year pro said Toyota-United’s frustration of not being able to reel in a five-man breakaway on Stage 1 Monday provided an additional incentive.

“Thanks to losing yesterday’s stage, today we raced perfectly,” he said. “We knew that we had to do it. There are only two teams that have good sprinters – us and CSC. We knew we had to take responsibility and control of the race and basically we did it.”

Stevic’s win made Toyota-United the first team this year to win a stage in each of the first two USA Cycling Pro Tour races. At February’s Amgen Tour of California, Ivan Dominguez was victorious on Stage 7 in Long Beach. The victory was also the team’s 14th of the season, its 25th podium placing in 2007 and the 69th win overall in the team’s two-year history.

“If you look at who some of the guys are who have won in Rome before, guys like Lance Armstrong and Yaroslav Popovych, you’ve got to be good to win on this circuit,” Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said.

With 25 miles (40 km) to go, Stevic said he told teammate Henk Vogels that he felt good.

Vogels said, “I told him he needed to go for it.”

So instead of only getting Dominguez (who had finished fifth on Stage 1) in position for the final sprint, Toyota-United’s Caleb Manion and Stevic were given the green light to be opportunistic.

“We knew it would be hectic on these circuits and we wouldn’t be able to drive it home,” Jansen said.

Manion had finished third on this same stage a year ago while Jansen knew Stevic would excel on the tight finishing circuit that featured eight corners on each 2.3-mile (3.7 km) lap. The plan worked to perfection as Manion went to the front with three kilometers to go, providing the perfect leadout for Stevic’s attack up the Category 4 climb of Clocktower Hill.

“It was perfect,” Vogels said. We changed our tactics because Ivan and me weren’t exactly in good position. Caleb just drilled it.”

Victory Was Foreseen In Team Owner's Dream
Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team Owner Sean Tucker said he has only dreamed about the team winning once – and it came true on Tuesday.

“At this year’s training camp, I had a dream where Ivan Stevic won Stage 2 at the Tour of California,” Tucker said. “In the dream, Stevic attacked from about a kilometer out.

“The next day, I told Ivan about it and (Team Director) Kirk Willett overheard me. He said Ivan couldn’t have won a stage of the Tour of California because he wasn’t going to be there. So I told him I must have been joking and that it was really the Tour de Georgia.”

A few minutes after his victory Tuesday, Stevic spoke with Tucker by cell phone.

“You keep having those dreams boss,” he said.

Quotable
“It’s great to see Ivan – who has worked tirelessly for others for a year and four months – get the win of his career.”
– Ivan Stevic’s teammate, Henk Vogels

Prestigious Company: The Winners in Rome
Toyota-United’s Ivan Stevic is now a member of an elite group of racers who have won stages of the Tour de Georgia that have finished in Rome. In 2004, Lance Armstrong surprised even himself with a sprint to victory over Ivan Dominguez. The 2005 stage was an individual time trial won by Floyd Landis. Last year’s stage winner, Yaroslav Popovych, also won a stage in the 2006 Tour de France.

Mechanics’ Post-Stage Report
Flat Tires Tuesday: Justin England (rear)
Other Mechanicals: None

Previewing Wednesday’s Stage 3
The Tour de Georgia moves into climbing mode with a 118.2-mile (190.3 km) race that begins Wednesday at noon. Included are four categorized climbs – including three trips up Lookout Mountain – before the race plunges into Chattanooga for the finish.

Weather could also play a factor in the stage. Forecasts call for a 30 percent chance of showers in the afternoon.

The Name Game
The Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team remains the only team in the pro peloton (domestic and international) to wear their last names on the backs of their jerseys. In the tradition of mainstream sports like football, basketball and baseball, the team believes the name on the back of a rider’s jersey makes them easier to identify.

Our plan going into Stage 2 on Tuesday was to look after Ivan Dominguez. He sprinted so well yesterday and the boys did an amazing job to bring back the break on the circuits to nearly deliver him to a win.

But we changed tactics in the final part of the stage because Ivan and I weren’t in a good position. Caleb Manion and Ivan Stevic were the wildcards we had to play. They would be following breakaways and killing them to make it come down to a bunch sprint. Both of them were riding well so when we hit the 3 km to go mark, Caleb just drilled it and launched Stevic up Clocktower Hill.

It was a very satisfying victory, not only for Ivan but also for me. He came to me with 40 km to go and said his legs were feeling good. I told him he needed to go for it. It was nice to see someone who has worked tirelessly to help others win finally get his own victory after a year and four months.

Wednesday’s stage is another long one – 190.2 km. But it’s going to be a lot tougher with four categorized climbs. For me, personally, it’s going to be a little bit of survival. It will be a difficult race. There’s probably going to be a bunch of about 35 riders by the time they reach the finish line. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of guys trying to get time before Stage 5’s race up Brasstown Bald Mountain.

Toyota-United's Ivan Stevic meets the media after stunning the field
and winning Stage 2 at the Tour de Georgia Tuesday.

The Tour de Georgia didn’t get underway today but we’ve been here since Friday. Saturday we got in about a two-hour ride and Sunday we did about an hour-and-a-half. That one was a fairly easy ride because there was bad weather. It was windy and cold. But for the start of the race today it was pretty nice – sunny, but windy.

The nice thing about the wind today was that it was a tailwind and that’s why the break went out so fast. In 16 km it went from three to six minutes, so it went extremely quickly.

Our guys were going 100 percent the last 30 km but unfortunately for us we never caught the breakway in front or the winner (Daniele Contrini of Tinkoff Credit Systems).

But my teammate, Ivan Dominguez, showed he’s at his sprinting best because he won the bunch sprint quite convincingly. Ryder Hesjedal took off in the last kilometer and got a gap but Ivan mowed him down at the finish and beat everyone else in the bunch sprint. So that’s a good sign for us.

The finishing circuit on Tuesday will be as hard as it was today. So we’re going to have to be on our toes for Ivan at the finish. It’s also a longer day, 217 km. Today was only 159 km. It seemed like it was over before it even started – about three-and-a-half hours.

While Ivan Dominguez sat in, the Toyota-United train
tried to chase down the breakaway group.
Macon, Ga. – A concerted chase by the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team didn’t bring back a five-man breakaway on Monday’s Stage 1 of the Tour de Georgia. But the effort did deliver Ivan Dominguez to a fifth place finish at the end of the 98.5 mile (158.6 km) race.

Dominguez finished second in the field sprint to Ryder Hesjedal (Health Net presented by Maxxis) as the peloton arrived in Macon one minute and 22 seconds behind stage winner Daniele Contrini (Tinkoff Credit Systems). Doug Ollerenshaw (Health Net) and Valery Kobzarenko (Navigators Insurance Cycling Team), who were in the original break, finished second and third, respectively.

A gusty wind out of the southwest provided a strong tailwind from the start that helped the five leaders gain a maximum advantage of eight minutes. When the break reached the outskirts of Macon for three finishing circuits, its lead was still more than four minutes.

Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen ordered his riders to begin an all-out chase with 25 km (15.5 miles) remaining. From there, Toyota-United’s Burke Swindlehurst said it was a “110 percent effort” to catch the leaders, who split into smaller groups on the circuit.

“We were just full gas on the front,” he said. “But with two laps to go, it became pretty apparent we weren’t going to bring the break back in.”

Dominguez said without the tailwind, the five escapees would have been caught.

“With the tailwind, the guys in the break are doing 60 kph and we're doing 61 or 62 kph. So they're not coming back for a long time,” he said. “We should have probably had a few guys work when CSC and Discovery were on the front. But Harm said to wait. By the time we started chasing, it was too late and the other teams didn't want to do anything.”

Mechanic Shane Fedon’s Post-Stage Report
Flat Tires Monday: None. Other Mechanicals: None

Previewing Tuesday’s Stage 2
Tuesday’s stage is another for the sprinters. The 134.9-mile (217.1 km) race starts at 11 a.m. in Thomaston and finishes in Rome. Last year, Stage 2 started in Fayetteville and ended in Rome with Yaroslav Popovych (Discovery Channel Pro Cycling) winning the race.

The Toyota-United Prius team car will be in the sixth spot in the race caravan.

Peachtree City, Ga. - Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team sprinter Ivan Dominguez drew some of the biggest laughs Saturday afternoon during the Tour de Georgia pre-race press conference at the Wyndham Hotel.

Dominguez was asked what it was like to be surrounded by so many of the race favorites for the general classification.

"I don't like it," Dominguez deadpanned.

Later, he was reminded of his crash on the finishing circuits into Macon on a stage of last year's race. "What went through your mind?," press conference moderator Steve Brunner asked Dominguez.

"This is going to hurt," Dominguez replied.

The Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team spent Saturday morning on a two-hour training ride in preparation for the Tour de Georgia.
Justin England (left) catches up on the weather report while Caleb Manion and soigneur Joachim Schoonaker watch everyone else get ready.


Left: Team Director Harm Jansen talks over the itinerary with Ivan Dominguez and Henk Vogels. Right: Dominguez inspects his bike before the training ride.

Chris Wherry talks with mechanic Shane Fedon.

Labels: Tour de Georgia

Richmond, Va. - Henk Vogel’s 12th place finish led the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team Saturday at the Inaugural U.S. Open Cycling Championships in Richmond, Va.

Canadian Svein Tuft (Symmetrics Cycling) soloed away from breakaway companion Pat McCarty (Team Slipstream Presented by Chipotle) in the final three miles to earn the victory in the 113-mile race from Williamsburg to Richmond. McCarty held off Alejandro Borrajo (Rite Aid) for second.

Besides Vogels, five other Toyota-United riders were among the 54 finishers: Sean Sullivan (18th), Ivan Stevic (27th), Ivan Dominguez (28th), Caleb Manion (29th) and Justin England (44th).

Vogels and Dominguez each found themselves in breakaways at some point during the race. Vogels was part of a group that never gained more than 30 seconds’ lead on the road to Richmond. Later, the Australian integrated himself into a three-man move that was off the front with five laps to go. But again, the gap never reached more than 30 seconds and Vogels’ escape ended with a flat tire.

Dominguez was part of a seven-rider group that tried to close the gap on McCarty when the Slipstream rider attacked with three laps to go. Instead, Tuft bridged across to McCarty and the pair quickly built a 39-second gap with two laps to go. Dominguez’s group was caught by the remnants of the pack with 5.5 miles to go, but Tuft and McCarty were already more than a minute up the road.

The dynamic I was worried about going into this race was that we would be in a position as the team to beat,” Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said. “So having the numbers at the end kind of put us at a disadvantage. Everyone else looked to us to do the chasing.”

Toyota-United’s Justin England said Stevic, Sullivan and Manion did what they could to close the gap and get Vogels and Dominguez in a position to win.

“We came up empty in the end, but we gave it a go,” he said.

The more-than-150 riders who started the race endured driving snow at the start that gave way to sunshine, only to have it start snowing again. Winds gusting to nearly 30 miles an hour buffeted the peloton, which stayed in intact until it reached the first of eight laps along a 5.5-mile circuit finish in Richmond. The race finished under sunny skies, with temperatures in the upper 30s.

“With the cold and the wind and the morning start, it made the race a lot harder,” Jansen said. “Had we had sunshine and warmer temperatures, it would have been much less harder.”

Labels: Caleb Manion, Henk Vogels, Ivan Dominguez, Ivan Stevic, Jose Manuel-Garcia, Justin England, Sean Sullivan

Richmond, Va. – The Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team will put its top riders on the start line of Saturday’s inaugural U.S. Open Cycling Championships. Two of them – sprinter Ivan Dominguez and veteran European pro Henk Vogels – are being pegged as favorites to win the UCI 1.1-rated, 112-mile (179 km) race.

The event is the second stop on the USA Cycling Professional Tour. It begins in colonial Williamsburg at 8:10 a.m. and finishes with eight laps of a 5.5-mile circuit in the capital city of Richmond.

Dominguez has started 20 races to date, scoring seven victories (three in National Race Calendar events) and one third place finish. His victories include: Roger Milliken Memorial Criterium, Red Trolley Classic Criterium, Stage 7 at the Amgen Tour of California, Merco Cycling Classic Downtown Grand Prix, Sequoia Cycling Classic Criterium, Indio Grand Prix and the Garrett Lemire Memorial Grand Prix.

Vogels has won one race (Central Valley Classic Criterium) and also has a third place (Sequoia Cycling Classic Criterium). Joining him and Dominguez on the Toyota-United start list are: Chris Wherry, Ivan Stevic, Sean Sullivan, Justin England, Jose-Manuel Garcia and Caleb Manion.

Overall, Toyota-United has four NRC victories, 10 wins and 18 podium finishes to date.

“I will probably designate some of our guys to do a job early on – riders who have a lesser chance of making it happen,” Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said. “They’re there to cover breaks. That’s one thing we can control: being represented in every break that goes up the road. If we don’t like the represent-ation of the break, we will chase it down immediately.”

Saturday’s weather could play a decisive factor. The current forecast calls for temperatures in the mid-30s at the start, with a 30 percent chance of rain and/or sleet and snow mix. Temperatures in Richmond for the finish (expected to be around noon) are forecast to be in the middle 40s under cloudy skies.

Sullivan, who serves as one of the riders on the Toyota-United “lead-out train,” said Dominguez will be hard to beat if he is near the front as the finish line nears.

“When he gets to the last corner in the first two or three positions, it’s kind of hard for anyone to get near him,” Sullivan said. “I think we have a really strong chance of winning. We just have to keep doing what we’re doing.”

NBC Sports, in conjunction with Kent Gordis Productions, will provide same-day coverage from 2 to 4:30 p.m EDT. Live, start-to-finish coverage on NBCsports.com and at the finish venue is also being planned. Announcers for the race are Al Trautwig, John Eustice and Bob Roll. Coverage is expected to include live in-race phone updates with Jansen from the Toyota Prius Team Car.

Ojai, Calif. – With his win Sunday at the fourth annual Garrett Lemire Memorial Grand Prix, Ivan Dominguez delivered the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team a victory on the second anniversary of its founding.

Dominguez took the sprint at the end of the 55-lap, (88 km) race around a one-mile circuit through Libby Park in Ojai, Calif., to score his seventh win of the season and his third in a National Race Calendar event. It is Toyota-United’s eighth win of 2007 and solidifies its lead in the team classification of the NRC standings.

Toyota-United raced with only five riders Sunday as Serbian national road champion Ivan Stevic sat out the race with a sore knee. Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said Stevic was trying out some new pedals earlier in the week and is still getting adjusted to them.

“For only having five guys in the race, they just did an awesome job,” Jansen said. “We didn’t miss a move all day and it was a pretty active race. But our guys neutralized things pretty well.”

With 10 laps remaining, Toyota-United’s Henk Vogels rolled off the front with two other riders. The gap the trio quickly opened up forced the field to chase as Vogels’ teammates sat on.

“Having Henk up front was good because he put a lot of pressure on the other teams,” Dominguez said. “Plus, he can win a sprint on his own.”

When the three escapees were caught inside three laps to go, several teams moved to the front to prepare for a furious finish on the eight-turn course. Vogels and teammate Caleb Manion did the work on the final lap for Toyota-United – escorting Sean Sullivan and Dominguez to the foot of a 53-foot climb that spans two-tenths of mile.

From there, Sullivan led out Dominguez on the final trip up the hill and into the last corner. But Russell Downing (Health Net presented by Maxxis) wasn’t giving up, and passed Dominguez before the last turn.

“That was good for me,” Ivan said. “I was a little bit hungry from Redlands and he’s a good rider. I was really hoping for him to pass me so I could show him how fast I can go.”

Dominguez did just that, roaring past Downing to earn the win that makes him even more of a favorite in Saturday’s inaugural US Open Cycling Championships in Virginia.

The UCI 1.1-rated race is the second stop on the USA Cycling Professional Tour. It begins in colonial Williamsburg and finishes with circuits in the capital city of Richmond. NBC will provide same-day coverage from 2 to 4:30 p.m EDT.

Labels: Henk Vogels, Ivan Dominguez, Ivan Stevic