Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 2007

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.