Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 2007

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.