Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 2007

Stevic led with 200 meters to go, only to be nipped at the line.
Arlington, Va. — Ivan Stevic of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team came within inches of winning the sprint finish Saturday at the 10th annual CSC Invitational.

It was a drag race from the final corner to the finish line, with Stevic being beaten by Rashaan Bahati (Rock & Republic Cycling Team) while Hilton Clarke (Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) was third.

“It was a long sprint and into a headwind, so it probably helped Rashaan that he was able to come from behind me,” Stevic said. "I'm happy for him and his team.”

Stevic’s finish was the second runner-up placing on the day for Toyota-United. At the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic in Oregon, Burke Swindlehurst and Justin England finished second and third, respectively, on Stage 5 at that National Race Calendar event.

Stevic, the reigning Serbian National Champion, said he received a perfect leadout from teammates Chris Wherry and Henk Vogels on the final lap of the 62-mile (100 km), 100-lap race that is billed as the “Hardest Crit in America.” The only glitch, Stevic said, was that he came around Vogels on the outside of the final turn, rather than the inside.

“I should have told Henk I was coming up on the inside,” Stevic said. “I can usually do the corners really tight, so I usually go to the inside. Rashaan saw my mistake and jumped, and there was no way to catch him.”

Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said he was pleased the team performed so well despite the absence of its top sprinter, Ivan Dominguez, who is recovering from a crash that injured his back and ribs.

"Ivan Stevic was really fantastic today," Jansen said. "We had only six guys in the race and we got second place, so I'm pretty happy about it."

Of Toyota-United’s six riders, two of them – Jose Manual Garcia and Caleb Manion – were not feeling 100 percent in the 90-degree heat. Garcia was suffering from stomach problems and Manion was experiencing back pain, Stevic said.

“Everyone did what they could today,” Stevic said. “With eight laps to go, I almost crashed and went all the way to the back of the bunch. But Chris (Wherry) came back and got me and took me right back to the front. We were very lucky that he was feeling good today.”

In the early going of the race, Victor Rapinski (Navigators Insurance) ventured off on a solo breakaway and was within 15 seconds of lapping the field on the five-turn, one-kilometer course through Arlington’s Clarendon district before several teams began working hard on the front.

Rapinski was eventually brought back and, in the closing laps, Toyota-United and Team CSC controlled the front to set up the bunch sprint.

“It looked like it was going to come down to a bunch sprint,” Jansen said, “so we played it that way.”

Labels: Harm Jansen, Henk Vogels, Ivan Stevic