Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 2007

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