Toyota-United Riders Among Favorites To Win
0 Comments Published by Unknown on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 at 4:48 PM.
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.
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.
0 Responses to “Toyota-United Riders Among Favorites To Win”
Post a Comment