Baldwin Third On Stage 1 At Tri-Peaks; Dominguez Out
0 Comments Published by Unknown on Thursday, May 17, 2007 at 5:43 PM.
Russellville, Ark. -The enthusiasm of placing three Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team riders in the top 10 on the opening stage of the Tri-Peaks Challenge was dampened by a crash that occurred after the finish line that knocked Ivan Dominguez out of the race.
Dominguez crashed about 200 meters after finishing the stage. He told Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett he doesn’t remember making contact with anyone, only that his front wheel suddenly went sideways, propelling him over the handlebars.
“He basically dropped like a ton of bricks on his back,” Willett said.
A trip to the hospital for X-rays and a CAT scan revealed no broken bones. But Dominguez – already a winner of eight races this season – will not start Friday’s race.
“He’s lucky nothing is broken,” Willett said. “Hopefully, it will be one of those things where a week from now he’ll be OK.”
Dominguez was finishing with a group of riders who came in about six minutes down from the front group, which included Toyota-United’s Chris Baldwin, Caleb Manion and Justin England. Those three were part of a breakaway group of 12 that escaped with about 10 miles to go before the finishing climb to Mt. Magazine Lodge.
“The pack behind eventually sat up and gave up,” Willett said. “Without (Rory) Sutherland of Health Net up there, this was a good GC move for us to set up Baldwin.”
Though Sutherland – who won last week’s Joe Martin Stage Race – was not in the winning move, three of his teammates (Kirk O’Bee, Karl Menzies and Frank Pipp) did make the break. With a little over 1.8 miles (3 km) to go, Aaron Tuckerman (Team Rubicon) attacked his breakaway companions, and, with no response from the remaining riders, went on to win the stage by nine seconds over Menzies and Baldwin, respectively.
“Manion just rode tempo so that Tuckerman didn't totally ride away,” Willett said. “But to bring him back was all on Health Net because our guys had been riding for the last 30 kilometers.”
Manion finished ninth, 18 seconds back, while England was 10th, 3:42 behind. The lead pack arrived at the finish line another three minutes later.
Friday’s stage is a 103-mile (162.5 km) point-to-point road race that loops northwest into the Ozarks, circling back through the national forest and finishing after some 10,000 feet of climbing.
Dominguez crashed about 200 meters after finishing the stage. He told Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett he doesn’t remember making contact with anyone, only that his front wheel suddenly went sideways, propelling him over the handlebars.
“He basically dropped like a ton of bricks on his back,” Willett said.
A trip to the hospital for X-rays and a CAT scan revealed no broken bones. But Dominguez – already a winner of eight races this season – will not start Friday’s race.
“He’s lucky nothing is broken,” Willett said. “Hopefully, it will be one of those things where a week from now he’ll be OK.”
Dominguez was finishing with a group of riders who came in about six minutes down from the front group, which included Toyota-United’s Chris Baldwin, Caleb Manion and Justin England. Those three were part of a breakaway group of 12 that escaped with about 10 miles to go before the finishing climb to Mt. Magazine Lodge.
“The pack behind eventually sat up and gave up,” Willett said. “Without (Rory) Sutherland of Health Net up there, this was a good GC move for us to set up Baldwin.”
Though Sutherland – who won last week’s Joe Martin Stage Race – was not in the winning move, three of his teammates (Kirk O’Bee, Karl Menzies and Frank Pipp) did make the break. With a little over 1.8 miles (3 km) to go, Aaron Tuckerman (Team Rubicon) attacked his breakaway companions, and, with no response from the remaining riders, went on to win the stage by nine seconds over Menzies and Baldwin, respectively.
“Manion just rode tempo so that Tuckerman didn't totally ride away,” Willett said. “But to bring him back was all on Health Net because our guys had been riding for the last 30 kilometers.”
Manion finished ninth, 18 seconds back, while England was 10th, 3:42 behind. The lead pack arrived at the finish line another three minutes later.
Friday’s stage is a 103-mile (162.5 km) point-to-point road race that loops northwest into the Ozarks, circling back through the national forest and finishing after some 10,000 feet of climbing.
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