‘Queen Stage’ of Tour de ‘Toona Awaits
0 Comments Published by Unknown on Friday, July 27, 2007 at 4:20 PM.
Altoona, Penn. — International Tour de ‘Toona race leader Karl Menzies (Health Net presented by Maxxis) padded his lead Friday but the seconds he gained are not expected to be a factor in Saturday’s “Queen Stage” of the seven-day, seven-stage National Race Calendar event.
Menzies won Friday’s 76.8-mile (123.6 km) Hoss’s/Parson’s/White Deer Run Martinsburg Circuit Race in a bunch sprint to earn a five-second bonus. But his team had to work hard in the closing miles to bring back a breakaway that gained more than a minute’s lead and included Toyota-United’s Caleb Manion. The advantage made Manion the virtual race leader on the road for a time.
“That move looked promising,” Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team Director Harm Jansen said. “But then they started playing a tactical game thinking about the stage win.”
The escapees were reeled in with 3.1 miles (5 km) to go, which set up the finish for a field sprint.
“Ivan (Dominguez) was up there to make sure Menzies didn’t get the bonus seconds, but a bit of a scramble put him out of contention,” Jansen said. “Still, Health Net was under some serious pressure today. That was the goal – to wear them out for tomorrow’s stage.”
Saturday’s Stage 6 Verizon/DeBartolo Companies Altoona to Blair County Road Race is 98.5 miles (158.5 km) long and features two climbs that are expected to produce a finish that considerably shakes up the overall standings.
“The way we hope to play it out tomorrow is on the (first) climb to get a large motivated group separated from Menzies and really isolate him after that,” Jansen said.
With riders in third through seventh place overall, Toyota-United remains atop the team standings.
Menzies won Friday’s 76.8-mile (123.6 km) Hoss’s/Parson’s/White Deer Run Martinsburg Circuit Race in a bunch sprint to earn a five-second bonus. But his team had to work hard in the closing miles to bring back a breakaway that gained more than a minute’s lead and included Toyota-United’s Caleb Manion. The advantage made Manion the virtual race leader on the road for a time.
“That move looked promising,” Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team Director Harm Jansen said. “But then they started playing a tactical game thinking about the stage win.”
The escapees were reeled in with 3.1 miles (5 km) to go, which set up the finish for a field sprint.
“Ivan (Dominguez) was up there to make sure Menzies didn’t get the bonus seconds, but a bit of a scramble put him out of contention,” Jansen said. “Still, Health Net was under some serious pressure today. That was the goal – to wear them out for tomorrow’s stage.”
Saturday’s Stage 6 Verizon/DeBartolo Companies Altoona to Blair County Road Race is 98.5 miles (158.5 km) long and features two climbs that are expected to produce a finish that considerably shakes up the overall standings.
“The way we hope to play it out tomorrow is on the (first) climb to get a large motivated group separated from Menzies and really isolate him after that,” Jansen said.
With riders in third through seventh place overall, Toyota-United remains atop the team standings.
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