Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 2007

Toyota-United's Chris Baldwin (left) was second
to Nathan O'Neil (center). Scott Moninger was third.
Silver City, N.M. - Chris Baldwin of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team didn’t successfully defend his title at 21st edition of the Ben D. Altamirano Tour of the Gila. But you wouldn’t have known it by the smile on his face after Sunday’s final stage.

“I lost to a far superior rider,” Baldwin said after finishing second overall to Nathan O'Neil (Health Net presented by Maxxis). “We took some shots at him, but he certainly earned the win. I'm pretty pleased, though. I feel like I haven't gotten many results this spring, so I'm happy with my result.”

Baldwin finished the five-stage, 339.1-mile (545.7 km) National Race Calendar event one minute and 42 seconds behind O’Neil’s winning time of 13 hours, 58 minutes and 43 seconds. Over five days of racing, Baldwin finished third in the opening time trial Wednesday, third in the Stage 2 Silver City to Mogollon Road Race and third in Sunday’s Stage 5 Gila Monster Road Race.

“It was pretty hard to make much happen today,” Baldwin said of the 105.7-mile (170.2 km) final stage that featured more than 9,000 feet of climbing. “It was a big blow not having Burke (Swindlehurst) today. He's really, really good at riding this stage.”

Swindlehurst, a three-time Tour of the Gila champion (1996, 1998 and 2005) did not start Saturday’s Stage 4 criterium after coming down with a 24-hour stomach flu after Friday’s Stage 3 Inner Loop Road Race.

“He (Burke) is doing better now, but we really felt his absence,” Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett said. “It's hard when you're down to three climbers on a stage like this because all three have to have a good day.”

While Toyota-United successfully defending Baldwin’s second place overall, it was unable to hold onto its lead in the team classification. Justin England finished 10th Sunday and wound up eighth overall, 4:32 behind the winning time. But teammate Stefano Barberi, who was eighth overall heading into the final stage, had the misfortune of getting a flat tire midway through Sunday’s race.

“We got him back on and he fought real well to be our third guy on the road,” Willett said. “It’s too bad he had to overcome that flat tire, though. It took a little a bit of wind out of his sails.”

Barberi ended up crossing the finish line with a group that arrived more than eight minutes after stage winner Scott Moninger (BMC Pro Cycling Team). That dropped the Brazilian to 15th overall, 12:07 behind O’Neil.

Toyota-United’s other remaining riders, Ivan Stevic and Jose Manuel-Garcia, did not finish the final stage. Stevic spent more than 150 kilometers riding in breakaways on Stages 2 and 3 (finishing third on Stage 3) and placed fifth in Saturday’s Stage 4 Downtown Silver City Criterium.

“They both did a great job of supporting the other guys on the first half of Sunday’s stage,” Willett said. “Once you get dropped on a stage like this, you’re done unless you’re still in contention. Since both of those guys are doing the Joe Martin Stage Race next week, it’s wise that they saved their legs.”

Labels: Chris Baldwin, Justin England, Kirk Willett