Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 2007

Toyota-United Team Owner Sean Tucker (right) holds Baldwin's bike
as Head Mechanic Shane Fedon makes repairs.
Team Director Kirk Willett (partially shown on lower left) also chipped in to help.
Bend, Ore. - Despite a formidable performance by his Toyota-United Pro Cycling teammates on the Stage 5 Pacific Power-Cascade Lakes Road Race, Chris Baldwin was unable to steal any seconds back from race leader Phil Zajicek (Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) at the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic.

Baldwin remains 13 seconds behind Zajicek heading into Sunday’s final stage, the 81-mile (130.3 km) Deschutes Brewery-Awbrey Butte Circuit Race. Four time bonus sprints, each with bonuses of 15, 10 and five seconds to the top three riders, are up for grabs on four of the five laps of a 17-mile (27.3 km) circuit.

Baldwin wasn’t conceding the race to Zajicek, who took the race leader’s yellow jersey from him after the Stage 3 time trial Friday morning. But the winner of the King of the Mountain competition at this race in 2005 admits it will be a tall order to pull back the time needed to help Toyota-United duplicate Chris Wherry’s victory on the final day last year.

“Our race is against Phil and so far he’s showing he’s the strongest guy in the race,” Baldwin said.

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Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett said the time bonus sprints on the final stage necessitate a change in tactics. Don’t be surprised, he said, to see Toyota-United on the front on the first lap, setting up Baldwin for the first bonus sprint, which comes approximately 13 miles into the race.

“Basically, if Chris wins the first sprint and Zajicek is no better than fourth in it, Chris has the race lead,” Willett said. “So you know Navigators are going to want a breakaway to go away as soon as possible and we don’t want the breakaway to go away.”

In last year’s race, Toyota-United successfully helped Wherry win the race on the final day on the strength of a time bonus sprint and higher placings throughout the five-day, six-stage race. Wherry and Baldwin are two of four Toyota-United riders in the top 15 overall. Wherry is fourth, 1:27 back, Swindlehurst is 10th, 2:48 back, and Justin England is 13th, 3:39 behind.

Saturday’s race included a few tense moments for Baldwin. After he was nearly brought down by another rider about 10 miles into the stage, Baldwin discovered his rear derailleur was damaged. He switched bikes on the first climb but was able to quickly rejoin the pack. After Toyota-United Head Mechanic Shane Fedon performed a roadside repair – which included replacing the entire derailleur cable and a broken derailleur hanger – Baldwin got back onto his repaired Fuji bicycle about a mile from the summit of the first climb up Mount Bachelor.

“Shane is an incredible mechanic,” Baldwin said. “Thanks to him I was able to get right back in the race as if nothing happened.”

Saturday’s race was marked by two separate breakaways. The first – a group of eight – was chased down by Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health Cycling Team presented by Bissell), who stands in third place overall, 49 seconds behind Zajicek

The second break of three riders stayed away for nearly 60 miles and, with the Navigators Insurance team doing all the work, was finally chased down six miles from the finish.

From there, Toyota-United’s impressive lineup of climbers: Baldwin, Wherry, Swindlehurst and England all made the final selection of 13 riders as the rapidly dwindling pack splintered. Baldwin was out-sprinted to the line by Jeff Louder (Health Net presented by Maxxis) and Zajicek, but finished third, ahead of Scott Moninger (BMC Pro Cycling Team). All four riders were given the same time.

England and Swindlehurst finished seventh and eighth, respectively, five seconds later, while Wherry was 10th, 15 seconds behind the winning time of three hours, 39 minutes and 37 seconds.

Swindlehurst seemed headed for a possible stage win when he covered an attack by David Vitoria (BMC) in the final kilometer. But Vitoria – confused by marshaling vehicles – did not make the final turn into the Sunrise Lodge parking lot at about 250 meters and went off course.

“I was just hanging on his wheel and thinking as soon as we make the turn, I’m going by him,” Swindlehurst said. “But at the last second, I realized he wasn’t going to make the turn. Luckily, I knew the course.”