Six Toyota-United Riders Finish Inaugural US Open
0 Comments Published by Unknown on Saturday, April 7, 2007 at 11:31 AM.
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.”
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
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