Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 2007

1. 11.00'00" 35 USA RAISIN SAUL C.A
2. 11.02'00" 32 USA HUFF Brad TSL
3. 11.04'00" 31 USA DUGGAN Timothy TSL
4. 11.06'00" 30 USA NORTON Michael RAP
5. 11.08'00" 29 USA GUNN Curtis SLP
6. 11.10'00" 28 USA HOWARD Graham PHB
7. 11.12'00" 27 USA SWEETING Bobby AEG
8. 11.14'00" 26 USA COZZA Steven TSL
9. 11.16'00" 25 USA ROSENBARGER Jacob BMC
10. 11.18'00" 24 USA MEAD Bryce JBC
11. 11.20'00" 23 USA BARROWS Clayton RAP
12. 11.22'00" 22 USA LANGE Michael TSL
13. 11.24'00" 21 USA GRABINGER Michael SLP
14. 11.26'00" 20 USA WINSTON David AEG
15. 11.28'00" 19 USA CRANE Matthew HNM
16. 11.30'00" 18 USA REISTAD Nick JBC
17. 11.32'00" 17 USA MUMFORD Reid KBM
18. 11.34'00" 16 USA THORNTON Joshua OSN
19. 11.36'00" 15 USA DULIN Thad JIT
20. 11.38'00" 14 USA MCKISSICK Ian BMC
21. 11.40'00" 13 USA JACQUES-MAYNES Ben PHB
22. 11.42'00" 12 USA CREED Michael TSL
23. 11.44'00" 11 USA ZAJICEK Phil NIC
24. 11.47'00" 10 USA CRUZ Tony DCS
25. 11.50'00" 9 USA HAMILTON Tyler TCS
26. 11.53'00" 8 USA JULICH Bobby CSC
27. 11.56'00" 7 USA PATE Danny TSL
28. 11.59'00" 6 USA RAMSAY Daniel SLP
29. 12.02'00" 5 USA ZIRBEL Tom PHB
30. 12.05'00" 4 USA VAN ULDEN Bernard NIC
31. 12.08'00" 3 USA FRIEDMAN Michael TSL
32. 12.11'00" 2 USA BALDWIN Christopher TUP
33. 12.14'00" 1 USA ZABRISKE David CSC

Team Mechanic Shane Fedon readies Chris Baldwin's Fuji time trial bike.

Greenville, S.C. - Toyota-United's Chris Baldwin used Friday morning to do his final preparations for the USA Cycling Pro Championship Time Trial.

Baldwin pre-rode the course Thursday and again Friday. He finished second a year ago to David Zabriskie (CSC). He is Toyota-United's only entrant in Saturday's time trial.

At the pre-race press conference, Baldwin was asked about the redesigned course, which removed the sharp right-hand turn where he crashed after leading at the last time check.

"I think it’s amusing that I keep hearing they changed the corner for me," he said. "I’ve been running it through my head the way it’s going to be and now I have to figure it all out over again.

"Actually, I don’t think it changes the course that much. It’s a nice course, with just the right amount of technical finesse.”

Download Toyota-United's preview of the USA Cycling Pro Championships.

Greenville, S.C. — The Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team will put three riders on the start line of Sunday’s USA Cycling Pro Championship road race who finished in the top 12 of last year’s race in Greenville, S.C.

That trio is among a total of four riders from Toyota-United who will compete over the two days of championships: Chris Baldwin will ride the time trial Saturday, then join Justin England, Burke Swindlehurst and Chris Wherry in Sunday’s road race.

Swindlehurst finished fourth in the road race last year, one of only nine racers who actually crossed the finish line. Another 22 were given pro-rated finish times for a total of 31 finishers of more than 100 starters.

At 110 miles (177 km), the road race is slightly shorter than last year’s version. The riders will climb Paris Mountain four times instead of five times. Also new for 2007 will be three starting circuits that will be in addition to the three finishing circuits.

Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said the team’s approach will be a little different than other races it has contested this year because Toyota-United will not enjoy strength in numbers.

Wherry, ninth place a year ago and the national road champion in 2005, said he would like nothing more than to don the stars-and-stripes jersey again.

“That was such an awesome year to have that jersey and go through that experience,” Wherry said. “Winning this race is going to be a goal of mine from now until to the end of my career.”

Jansen agrees Wherry is on good form.

“Chris has been looking super strong these last few weeks,” Jansen said. “He knows better than anyone else how to go about preparing to be there in the end.”

In the time trial, Baldwin aims to earn what would be his first win of the year. He has finished second nine times – including three runner-up finishes at National Race Calendar stage races – and has 19 podium finishes overall.

Last year, he was leading at the final time check, only to crash in a tight right-hand corner and lose the race by 32 seconds to David Zabriskie (CSC). The corner is not part of this year’s course.

Boulder, Colo. - It was 56 days ago that Ivan Stevic put his head down, stomped on the pedals and soloed away from the field to win the UCI B World Road Race Championship in Cape Town, South Africa.

Since then, the two-time Serbian national champion has spent exactly seven days on his bicycle – including Sunday’s 50-mile criterium at the Chris Thater Memorial in Binghamton, N.Y.

Racing against riders who have been training and racing all season, Stevic survived to the final lap, only pulling off after helping Toyota-United reel in a five-man breakaway that at one point had a 45-second lead.

“It wasn’t that bad,” an upbeat Stevic said after the race. “I’m happy to come back and not have any problems with my knees.”

Knee pain that set in after his win at the Worlds and a victory at the Nature Valley Grand Prix stage race threatened to spoil the remainder of a season that has already seen him win a ProTour stage (at the Tour de Georgia) along with five other races. But plenty of rest in his adopted hometown of Boulder, Colo., seems to have done the trick.

“It’s really, really good to be back with the boys,” he said. “I missed a lot.”

Stevic said he is determined to race as much as he can in the final month of the season. But a final determination on whether he will be available for the six-day, six-stage Tour of Missouri will have to be made by his doctor.

“I would like not to take a risk and have to deal with an injury again,” he said. “In two weeks, with good training and a few races, I could be there to be help Ivan (Dominguez) win some stages. On paper, the Tour of Missouri doesn’t look that hard. But the doctor will have the final say.”

Stevic said he enjoyed his first time racing the Chris Thater Memorial – particularly being able to watch Dominguez win the field sprint.

“He won the sprint so easily, it was amazing,” Stevic said. “So it makes you feel bad because without the Navigators guy (Kyle Wamsley) going solo, we would have won the race.”

Stevic also knows winning the National Race Calendar team title will be a long shot, too. But like his Toyota-United teammates, he isn’t about to give up with only one NRC race – the 100K Classic in Atlanta on Sept. 3 – remaining.

“I know we’re still trying to do everything we can,” he said. “Even though we’re not going to win the NRC, we’re still trying to win races. Our goal is to win every race we do.”

Boulder, Colo. - Henk Vogels will not be competing in any more domestic races in 2007 for the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team.

“My season is over. Completely over,” Vogels said Sunday from his home in Boulder. “I’m just going to have to look forward to next year.”

Vogels saw his successful season end abruptly July 7 at the Infineon Cougar Mountain Classic Circuit Race. As he was bridging up to a breakaway group that included teammate Ivan Dominguez, Vogels struck a metal crowd barrier fence with his shoulder while rounding a tight turn. The violent impact shattered Vogels’ shoulder socket but incredibly, did not knock him off his bicycle.

Doctors told him it would take at least eight weeks of inactivity before they would know whether he would be able to return to racing. But when the sling came off earlier this week, the news wasn’t good. Any return to racing at this point would be jeopardizing his career, they said. So the long road to recovery continues.

“I have started rehabbing,” Vogels said, “but it’s so painful, you can’t believe it. It’s like doing chin-ups with a knife stuck in your shoulder.”

Vogels, a 13-year professional who has ridden the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia, turned 34 on July 31. He knows there aren’t too many more seasons left in a body that’s already survived a near life-threatening crash in 2003. Still, he isn’t giving up hope of racing a couple more times outside the U.S. before the end of the calendar year.

“I’m thinking of trying to get a start in the Tour of Southland in New Zealand in November,” he said. “But we’ll just have to see how things turn out.”

Binghamton, N.Y. - With one lap to go Sunday at the Chris Thater Memorial, it looked like history was about to be made.

Only once in the race’s 24 editions had the 50-mile (80 km) criterium come down to a field sprint. But with nearly the entire Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team on the front of the 70-rider strong peloton, it appeared the National Race Calendar event was headed for a massive, curb-to-curb sprint to the finish.

But the final time up the only hill on the 1.2-mile (2 km) course, Kyle Wamsley (Navigators Insurance Pro Cycling Team) surprised everyone by jumping out of the pack, opening a small gap and sailing through the final three corners to solo in for the win.

Toyota-United’s Ivan Dominguez won the field sprint for second while Karl Menzies (Health Net presented by Maxxis) was third. Dominguez came from 10 riders back on the downhill run to the finish line to beat Menzies by nearly two bike lengths.

“That was very impressive,” Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team Director Harm Jansen said. “He was boxed in and had to try to find his way out.”

Perhaps even more impressive was the effort Toyota-United threw into bringing back a five-rider breakaway of Wamsley, Marc Walters (Kodakgallery.com/Sierra Nevada Pro Cycling), Ted King (Priority Health Cycling Team presented by Bissell) and Rite-Aid Pro Cycling Team teammates Alejandro Borrajo and Bill Elliston. The five built a 45-second lead and enjoyed 17 laps of freedom before Toyota-United reeled them in with two laps to go.

“That was a high-powered break that was up the road,” Jansen said. “The responsibility kind of rested on our shoulders because we had a whole squad here. But it took a little too much out of the guys to bring that back.”

After the all-out chase to bring the race back together, Toyota-United had only Chris Wherry to guide Dominguez through the final lap. When Wamsley attacked, no one else reacted.

“Basically, Dominguez didn’t have support from us anymore and nobody from any other teams wanted to bring him back,” said Toyota-United’s Ivan Stevic.

Stevic featured prominently in his first appearance in his first race as the reigning B World Road Race champion. In the heat of the pursuit of the breakaway, he was on the front sharing the workload with teammates Chris Baldwin, Heath Blackgrove, Justin England, Bobby Lea and Sean Sullivan.

“I was pretty surprised because one week of training after one month of being off the bike is usually not enough,” Stevic said. “I’m really happy with my performance today and I’m happy that the guys are happy with the way we did. It’s really, really good to be back.”

Despite Dominguez’s second place, Toyota-United lost ground to Health Net in the NRC team standings. Dominguez picked up 75 points while Menzies scored 60 points for third. But Rory Sutherland placed fifth, scoring 50 points for Health Net. With one race remaining, Health Net owns a 215-point lead (4,336 to 4,121) over Toyota-United.

Wichita Falls, Texas - Stefano Barberi of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team finished third in Friday night's Hotter'N Hell Hundred Michelob Ultra Criterium in Wichita Fall, Texas.

The 75-minute criterium was part of three days of events commemorating the 25th anniversary of the race. Alex Welch (Mercy Specialized) won the race.

Barberi and teammate Ryan Miller signed autographs at the Toyota-United expo booth Thursday, then competed in Friday's race. More than 10,000 riders took part in Saturday's non-competitive rides.

Breinigsville, Penn. – Bobby Lea wrapped up the regular season of track racing at the Valley Preferred with a second place in the 31st Annual Madison Cup Friday Night.

This year’s Madison drew more than 15 teams to the Trexlertown velodrome, including the Australian duo of world champion Jeff Hopkins and partner Pete “Fitzy” Fitzpatrick. Lea teamed with Colby Pearce to finish behind Italy’s Angelo Ciccone and Fabio Masotti.

Lea is an automatic qualifier for the USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships Oct. 3-7 at the ADT Event Centre velodrome at the Home Depot Centre in Carson, Calif.

The World Championship Sports Network will carry the 24th Annual Chris Thater Memorial Criterium – featuring the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team – live in an on-line broadcast Sunday on WCSN.com.

The cost of the broadcast is $4.95, which will allow access to a month’s worth of WCSN broadcasts. Coverage begins at noon EDT from Binghamton, N.Y. Former professional cyclist Todd Gogulski will call the action with veteran WCSN announcer Steve Schlanger. Seven-time Emmy award winner Kent Gordis will produce the coverage, which will feature eight cameras around the 1.2-mile (2 km) course.

Sunday’s race marks the return to racing for Toyota-United’s Ivan Stevic. Knee pain has kept him out of competition since he won the B World Road Race Championship in Cape Town, South Africa, on July 1.

The victory earned him an automatic berth to ride for Serbia in the 2008 Olympic road race in Beijing and the right to wear the blue-and-rainbow-striped jersey that denotes the B World Road Race champion.

“I’m happy to finally get back out there and do a race,” Stevic said. “My form is not that great. Still, I want to be there to help the guys.”

This will be Toyota-United’s first appearance in the Chris Thater Memorial, a criterium that is named for a cyclist who was killed by a drunk driver.

“It’s got a bit of a hill in it and the course has a couple tight turns,” Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said. “It’s a tough criterium.”

Toyota-United’s roster for the race is Chris Baldwin, Heath Blackgrove, Ivan Dominguez, Justin England, Bobby Lea, Stevic, Sean Sullivan and Chris Wherry. Baldwin, Dominguez, Stevic, England and Wherry are all in the top 12 of the National Race Calendar individual standings while Toyota-United is second in the NRC team standings.

Ivan Stevic is expected to make his return to racing Sunday at the 24th Annual Chris Thater Memorial in Binghamton, N.Y.

Knee pain has kept Stevic from competing since he won the B World Road Race Championship in Cape Town, South Africa, on July 1.

The victory earned him an automatic berth to ride for Serbia in the 2008 Olympic road race in Beijing and the right to wear the blue-and-rainbow-striped jersey that denotes the B World Road Race champion.

This will be Toyota-United’s first appearance in the criterium that is named for a cyclist who was killed by a drunk driver.

“It’s got a bit of a hill in it and the course has a couple tight turns,” Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said. “It’s a tough criterium.”

The 50-mile race will be televised live on the Internet on the World Championship Sports Network (WCSN.com). Local radio stations WAAL (99.1 FM) and WNBF (1290 AM) will also provide live coverage.

Toyota-United’s probable roster for the race is Chris Baldwin, Heath Blackgrove, Ivan Dominguez, Justin England, Bobby Lea, Stevic, Sean Sullivan and Chris Wherry.

The Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team is within 155 points of the lead in the team standings of the National Race Calendar series with two events remaining.

With the addition of Chris Wherry’s 11th-place finish overall at the Tour of Elk Grove, Toyota-United picked up an additional 47 points to narrow the gap on three-time defending NRC team champion Health Net presented by Maxxis. Health Net has 4,201 points to Toyota-United’s 4,046.

With only the 24th Annual Chris Thater Memorial and the US 100K Classic criteriums remaining on the NRC schedule, Toyota-United needs to earn as many of the 652 points that are available in each race for the top 20 finishers.

Only a team’s top five riders on the NRC individual standings are eligible to score points. Toyota-United’s top five riders in the NRC standings are: Chris Baldwin (3rd, 1,226 points), Ivan Stevic (6th, 967 points), Ivan Dominguez (8th, 784 points), Wherry (11th, 536 points) and Justin England (12th, 533 points).

Health Net’s top five riders are: Rory Sutherland (2nd, 1,270 points), Karl Menzies (4th, 1,014 points), Nathan O’Neill (5th, 1,008 points), Frank Pipp (13th, 462 points) and Kirk O’Bee (15th, 447 points).

Toyota-United’s Dominguez has won six NRC races – more than any other rider in 2007.

Rain made racing treacherous Sunday at Downer's Grove.
Downers Grove, Ill. - Bobby Lea’s eighth-place finish led three other Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team riders at a rain-soaked edition of the USPRO Criterium Championship Sunday in Downers Grove, Ill.

In addition to Lea (pictured at left), Sean Sullivan finished 22nd, Chris Wherry was 26th and Heath Blackgrove was 36th. The four were the only Toyota-United riders still in the race at the halfway point of the 62-mile (100 km) event.

Canadian Martin Gilbert (Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast Pro Cycling Team) narrowly won the race in a sprint with Kirk O’Bee (Health Net presented by Maxxis) while Shawn Milne (Health Net) finished third. By virtue of being the first American to cross the finish line, O’Bee was crowned the U.S. national criterium champion and will wear the stars-and-stripes jersey in criteriums for the next year.

Steady rain and temperatures in the mid-60s made for less-than-desirable racing conditions. The wet streets led to countless crashes, one of which took down Sullivan less than halfway into the race.

“In the second-to-last corner, I just lost my front wheel,” Sullivan (pictured) said. “I skidded about 15 feet across the pavement and up onto the grass.”

Ivan Dominguez, who had won three criteriums in the past four weekends for Toyota-United, bowed out of the race after about a half-hour of racing.

“On this course, in the rain, it was not worth taking chances,” Dominguez said.

Lea agreed, saying he saw a crash in nearly every corner on the final two laps of the race.

“It was just a race of survival,” Lea said. “Guys were hitting the deck, so I kept moving up and moving up. I think I was one more crash away from being top five.”

Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said the team sorely missed its criterium specialists: Caleb Manion, Ivan Stevic and Henk Vogels. Manion broke his collarbone last weekend, Stevic is still nursing sore knees and Vogels is rehabilitating a severe shoulder injury.

“Once Dominguez was out of the race, it was a very tall order for these guys to make it happen,” Jansen said. “I told Chris (Wherry) to give it a couple goes and he did. But being an American and being Chris Wherry, it’s hard for him to get away. I think he looked solid today so it’s very promising for the USPRO road championships that are coming up.”

Blackgrove (pictured), who has one criterium victory to his credit this season, called racing in the rain his “worst nightmare.”

“Every time I tried to move up, it was really dangerous. I wanted to try and move up but every time I tried to move up, my wheel would slip or there would be a crash and it would put more fear in me.”

Blackgrove will be one of eight Toyota-United riders who will contest the second-to-last race on the National Race Calendar, the Chris Thater Memorial criterium on Sunday in Binghamton, N.Y.

Downers Grove, Ill. — The Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team took a cautious approach to Saturday night’s Suzuki Pro-Am Challenge at Downers Grove, Ill.

Rain slickened the one-mile (0.6 km) course, making even the straightaways treacherous. Toyota-United’s Ryan Miller was one of the victims of the numerous crashes. He slid out and bruised his left thigh and left calf late in the 60-minute race.

Only two of Toyota-United’s nine racers finished the race. Chris Wherry (pictured) finished 42nd and Sean Sullivan was 74th. Saturday’s race carried no points for the National Race Calendar standings and has no bearing on Sunday’s USPRO Criterium Championships, which will be run on the same course.

“This was one of the craziest races I have been in,” Wherry said. “There were a lot of crashes and a lot of people taking chances the whole time.”

The rain that was a heavy downpour during the International women’s race stopped minutes before the field took the start line. But the course did not fully dry out, which allowed a group of six riders to break from the field and gain a maximum lead of about 30 seconds.

From the breakaway, Ken Hanson (BMC Professional Cycling Team) won a four-up sprint, ahead of Dominique Rollin (Kodak Gallery.com-Sierra Nevada Pro Cycling) and Darren Lill (Navigators Insurance Cycling Team).

Sunday’s USPRO Criterium National Championship race is 100 km (62 miles) and begins at 3 p.m. The first American to cross the finish line will earn the right to wear the stars-and-stripes jersey in criteriums for the next year.

The way Ivan Dominguez sees it, there are only two outcomes for the first riders who veer into the final turn at the USPRO Criterium Championships.

“You either crash and injure yourself or you win the race,” the Toyota-United sprint specialist said.

Dominguez makes no secret of his dislike for the final turn on the 1.2-mile (2 km), figure-eight course in Downers Grove, Ill. Riders who safely navigate their way through the sharp left-hander only have 150 meters to go to reach the finish line. Oftentimes that means being one of the top two or three riders into the final corner is key to gaining a spot on the podium.

“If you areally want to win, you really have to take a chance,” Dominguez said. “I know it’s a tradition, but I don’t know why they don’t move the finish line to another part of the course. That would open it up for a finish that involves a lot more good guys. Not just the first ones through the last corner.”

Dominguez heads into Sunday’s USPRO Criterium Championships as one of the favorites to win the 62-mile (100 km) race that has been won by a foreigner in three of the past six years.

Unlike the USPRO Road and Time Trial Championships, which are only open to U.S. citizens, foreign pros are eligible to compete in the USPRO Criterium. The first American to cross the finish line gets the honor of wearing the stars-and-stripes jersey of U.S. Criterium Champion for the next 365 days.

Last year, Toyota-United put its efforts behind the best American sprinter on its roster, Tony Cruz. In fact, in Saturday’s “warm-up” race on the same course, Dominguez won and Cruz was second. The following day, Cruz finished third behind winner Hilton Clarke (Navigators Insurance) and Brad Huff (TIAA-CREF), who earned the title as the first American across the line.

This year, Dominguez (left) will be the team’s protected rider, particularly since Toyota-United is in a tight battle with Health Net presented by Maxxis for the team classification of the National Race Calendar
standings. Of the 10 riders on Toyota-United’s roster for the championship, only Dominguez and teammate Chris Wherry are eligible to score NRC points.

Wherry is no stranger to the race, having helped Toyota-United teammate Henk Vogels win the race in 2002, when both raced for the Mercury Cycling Team. Also familiar to the course is Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen, who won the race in 2001.

“We’ll see what happens,” Dominguez said.

Bobby Lea scored a pair of impressive wins for the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team over the weekend, one on his Fuji track bike, the other on his Fuji road bike.

And both came after a week of training on neither bicycle.

“Basically, I was off my road bike for two weeks,” Lea explained. “I thought I was having circulation issues in my legs so I went to see my surgeon. But now that I’ve got a clean bill of health, I’m looking forward to training hard and see what I come up with.”

What Lea came up with Friday and Sunday amounted to Toyota-United’s 31st and 32nd wins of the season and upped Lea’s victory total to four for the 2007 season. Earlier this season, he was out for more than eight weeks after undergoing surgery to repair arteries in his legs.

“Sometimes something as simple as throwing your leg over a different top tube will freshen things up a bit,” Lea said.

On Friday night, he teamed with Colby Pearce to win the 25 km Madison during the KNBT Festival of Speed at the newly-christened Valley Preferred Cycling Center in Breinigsville, Penn. Then on Sunday, he soloed to victory in a 25-mile criterium in the final stage of the Tour de Christiana in Lancaster County, Penn.

“I feel like I’m not even close to top form right now,” Lea said. “I came off of June, which was a pretty intense month that finished up with Fitchburg-Longsjo and Westchester. Then I only had a week-and-a-half of training before I started the International Tour de ‘Toona.”

It was during the Tour de ‘Toona that Lea said he started experiencing what he thought were complications from the operation in March that repaired constriction of the external iliac artery in both of his legs.

It was a scary thought considering another pro cyclist, 28-year-old South African cycling champion Ryan Cox, died from complications related to his surgery to treat iliac artery endofibrosis on Aug. 1.

Did that trigger any concern for Lea?

“For me, I’m well past any danger point,” he said. “But I felt really bad for that Kelly Benefit Strategies rider (Nick Waite) who only underwent his operation two weeks ago. But he and I both had the same surgeon – Dr. Kenneth Cherry – who is one of the best in the world.”

Friday night, Lea found himself competing against 13 other teams in a star-studded field in a race that carried nearly as many points as a World Cup event. Lea and Pearce led from the gun, nearly gaining a lap on the field on the way to their first Madison win of the season that stopped a string of three consecutive runner-up finishes.

“It was a hard race,” Lea said, “but by the end, we had things firmly under control.”

Lea now awaits word of how many points he has compiled in his pursuit of a berth in the 2008 Olympic Games.

Saturday, Lea rode the first stage of the Tour de Christiana, a 66-mile road race which Pearce won while Lea was 28th. Sunday’s second stage was a 10.3-mile (16.5 km) time trial that Lea treated as a recovery ride. He finished 63rd, but with the race being scored on points, not time, he was only concerned with conserving energy for the criterium.

A few hours later, riding without the help of any teammates, Lea actually went on the attack before the halfway point of the 25-mile race, soloing for six laps of the 1.25-mile (2 km) course.

“I was hoping a small break would come across to me,” Lea said. “It was going to be an uphill sprint and I wasn’t too keen on that for a field sprint. But when no one bridged, I eventually had to pack it in and reshuffle.”

Once back in the field, though, Lea realized the tough course was taking its toll. So he made plans for a late-race attack that would come far enough from the finish that, hopefully, the field would think was too far to make it to the line.

“I thought if I hit them a little bit far out – maybe with just under two laps to go – it might make people think twice about coming after that me,” Lea said.

The strategy worked to perfection when Lea attacked shortly after a breakaway had been reeled in. He soloed in to move up to seventh overall. Pearce took the overall honors ahead of Anibal Barrajo (Rite Aid Pro Cycling).

Toyota-United's Ivan Dominguez won his 12th race of the season Sunday.
Elk Grove, Ill. - A modified version of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team lead-out train helped deliver Ivan Dominguez to victory Sunday in the final stage of the Tour of Elk Grove.

Dominguez won a close bunch sprint at the end of the 68-mile (110 km) criterium to score his 12th win of the season and finish fifth overall in the two-day, three-stage National Race Calendar event. Taylor Tolleson (Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle) held on for second in the sprint while Martin Gilbert (Kelly Benefits Strategies/Medifast Pro Cycling) was third.

Three of Toyota-United’s lead-out specialists – Ivan Stevic, Henk Vogels and Caleb Manion – are currently sidelined by injury. But capably filling in for them Sunday were Chris Baldwin, Heath Blackgrove and Justin England. The trio set the stage for the two most powerful engines on the lead-out train – Sean Sullivan and Chris Wherry – who piloted Dominguez into position for the final lap around the 1.7-mile (2.7 km) course.

“I told the guys that as long as they kept me safe to the last turn, I would be OK,” Dominguez said.

The victory was Toyota-United’s 33rd of the season and its 13th in an NRC event.

“Today, we got it dialed in perfectly,” England said. “We covered moves early on, we took the front with six laps to go and we got a little help from other teams that had interest in the sprint as well.”

Dominguez said he honed in on the wheel of Fred Rodriguez (Predictor-Lotto) with about 20 laps to go. Rodriguez had won Saturday’s 50-mile (80 km) criterium and was eyeing a victory Sunday to overtake Stage 1 time trial winner Nathan O’Neill (Health Net presented by Maxxis) in the overall standings.

“He (Rodriguez) was moving around a lot and with so many good guys all over the place, I tried to get our guys on the front early to be safe,” Dominguez said

Wherry said the job of shepherding the Cuban sprint specialist was made much easier because of the form Dominguez is enjoying. Dominguez won his third race in the past four weekends.

“Ivan is super quick right now,” Wherry said. “He seems like he’s where he was before he crashed. All of these races are a lottery in a sense. But he’s really good about getting himself in position.”

Boulder, Colo. - He may not be racing – or even riding – his bicycle, but Toyota-United’s Henk Vogels is still very much in tune with what is going on with the team.

Vogels is recovering from an impact with a pole during a race last month that broke the glenoid bone in his shoulder. While he sits out a mini-mum of eight weeks, the Australian veteran pro has stayed in close communication with his teammates. He is also counting the days until a crucial X-ray.

“In two weeks time (Aug. 20), they (doctors) will tell me whether it is healed or not,” Vogels said Sunday from his home in Boulder, Colo.

In the meantime, Vogels hopes to be able to start riding his bike on an indoor trainer to try and regain some of his fitness.

With teammate Caleb Manion lost for the season with a broken collarbone, Vogels’ return could figure prominently into Toyota-United contending for the National Race Calendar series team title.

The Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team’s commitment to charitable endeavors continued over the weekend with the team’s participation in the 28th annual Pan-Mass Challenge. The two-day recreational ride is a fundraising event to raise money to find a cure for cancer.

Bobby Lea and Stefano Barberi were among 5,000 bicyclists who participated in the event on Saturday and Sunday.

This year’s goal was to raise $27 million. The PMC is the nation’s most successful charity bike ride, with 99 cents of every dollar going directly to The Jimmy Fund for cancer research.

Boulder, Colo. - Toyota-United’s Ivan Stevic finds out from a doctor later this week whether he will be able to return to racing after more than a month rehabilitating sore knees.

When he does get back on the bike – possibly as soon as this weekend’s Alexian Brothers Tour of Elk Grove in Illinois – he will sport a decidedly different look.

Instead of his all-white Serbian national champion uniform, Stevic has earned the honor of wearing a special blue-and-rainbow-striped jersey by finishing first in the 100-mile (161 km) B World Road Race Championship in Cape Town, South Africa on July 1.

The UCI B World Championships are staged to create an opportunity for those nations where cycling is not considered to be a major sport to qualify riders and teams for the Olympic Games.

By virtue of his 40-second win over Namibia’s Erik Hoffman, Stevic has qualified to ride the road race for Serbia in Beijing in 2008.

The blue-with-rainbow-stripes jersey is one not often seen. It is worn by both the UCI “B” and masters world champions.

The last rider before Stevic to have earned the jersey, Murilo Fischer, did not wear it. He spent the 2004 season with Domina Vacanze – which already had the reigning world road race champion (Mario Cipollini) in its ranks that season. That might explain why Fischer never sported his special jersey.

Toyota-United's Ivan Dominguez celebrates his 11th win of the season.
Winston-Salem, N.C. — Ivan Dominguez of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team made it look easy Sunday in winning the Hanes Park Criterium Sunday in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Fewer than 24 hours after he said he felt less-than-100 percent in the Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium in Charlotte, Dominguez resembled a rocket sled on rails in the final 250 meters. He was third coming out of the final corner, but quickly made up the gap on the slightly uphill finish and had time to freewheel to the line ahead of second-place finisher Jeff Hopkins (Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team) and Cleber Ramos de Silva (Flying Horse/Caloi/A.A Metodista/SB do Campo), who was third.

“Two laps into the race, I told the guys to keep things together because I had good legs,” Dominguez said. “Yesterday, I was feeling heavy with no speed.”

Following Dominguez’s instructions to the letter, Toyota-United made sure no one was able to dangle more than a few seconds off the front of the peloton for any extended period of time. The oppressive heat – temperatures were in the mid 90s with high humidity – also helped keep things under control.

“It became a race of attrition,” Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett said. “Someone would get away, but then they would go into the red zone. When you make a big effort in the heat, you basically shut down.”

Toyota-United kept Dominguez cool by having Ryan Miller, Justin England and Heath Blackgrove do the work whenever a rider threatened to break away. With the laps counting down, Chris Wherry and Jose Manuel “Chepe” Garcia took over, keeping the pace high to ensure a field sprint.

Dominguez said he sat comfortably on the wheel of Karl Menzies (Health Net presented by Maxxis) on the final tours of the 1.3-mile (2.0 km) tree-line circuit around a historic park in Winston-Salem’s West End. Menzies had finished fifth Saturday night in Charlotte while Dominguez failed to crack the top 10.

“Once in a while, I’m going to have a bad day,” Dominguez said. “Unfortunately, it was last night. It wasn’t supposed to be like that because I was feeling good the whole week.”

As the bell sounded to signal the final lap, more than 100 riders remained in contention, spread five-abreast across the front. Shadowing Menzies, Dominguez moved up to third wheel between the second-to-last and final corners, then powered through to score his 11th win of the season and the team’s 12th in an NRC race.

The win was particularly satisfying for Toyota-United, as it marked the final race for Team Director Kirk Willett. The 37-year-old former professional racer is headed to medical school to pursue a career as a physician.

“I told him to take that as a present,” Dominguez said. “I have been really happy to work with him this season. He’s always very easy-going and he doesn’t put pressure on you. He would just tell you what you needed to do.”

Willett said it was good to finish the weekend on a winning note following the loss of Caleb Manion to a broken collarbone in a crash Saturday night.

“It’s always exciting to win and it’s a little extra nice when it is my last race,” Willett said. “I’m happy the guys came out with the win after the loss of Caleb and the lows we had Saturday night.”

Stage 6: Altoona-Blair County Road Race

In Saturday’s decisive Stage 6, Toyota-United strongmen Chris Baldwin, Justin England, and Chris Wherry put amazing heat on the leaders but were unable to crack Karl Menzies’s hold on the top spot.

The stage was a tough 98 miles with three climbs, all of them rating category 1 or 2 in the Tour de France parlance. But the route excluded the most difficult climb to the Blue Knob Ski area, for many years the hallmark climb of the entire stage race, the one that has usually winnowed the pack down to a tiny lead group battling it out for the win. Absence of that climb substantially changed the character of the race in a way that did not favor Toyota-United’s climbing strength.

The team gave it a powerful, courageous shot nevertheless. In the early going the usual flurry of attacks popped off the front, all of them reeled in by a watchful peleton. But as the miles and the strain added up, a group of eight escaped with Toyota-United’s Caleb Manion included. Caleb timed the jump perfectly at a moment when Health Net’s chasers needed a breather.

The gap slowly widened to a minute, dropped back to thirty seconds, then opened up to nearly two minutes. Health Net obviously did not want a big gap with Caleb only 24 seconds back on GC. The break included motivated riders from Navigators, Slipstream, and Colavita. Only six of the eight were working, and no one had a greater stake than Caleb Manion so he had to be the workhorse, driving the pace and encouraging the others to do their part. It was a terrific effort that lasted for more than 30 miles, a distance that kept pressure on the yellow jersey team and off Toyota-United.

At mile 56 the peleton reached the base of Blue Knob and the climbers put the pedal down. Burke Swindlehurst of Toyota-United laid down a torrid pace over the first half of the climb, blowing the peleton apart. The first to crack were several young riders from Equipe de Quebec who had for some reason helped to chase down the breakaway. As the punishing climb took its toll, we were allowed to pass small clutches of riders who had fallen off the pace, sweat dripping from their noses, heads down, concentrating on some inward locus of determination that kept their legs churning on the pedals. On tough climbs the race seems to become a mostly individual enterprise, especially for the non-climbers, each rider’s progress independent of the others.

Up at the head of the pack, the stronger climbers are still able to be tactical, watchful of their teammates and opponents, following attacks, and throwing down attacks of their own. By the summit the lead had split into two groups of about 12 riders each, with Baldwin, England and Wherry in the lead bunch, the yellow jersey in the group behind. It was a small gap, only about 100 meters, and the guys poured it on to try and widen it. But the chasers used the long downhill to shorten and eventually close the gap. On the ensuing smaller climbs and rollers the attacks came fast and furious but nothing was able to stick and it remained largely gruppo compacto to the end. In the sprint it was Taylor Tolleson of Slipstream out-sprinting the rest to take the win.

It was another nail-biter of a day in the team car for this Dad, feeling a jumble of emotions: the suspense of intense competition, desire for victory, white-knuckled terror in high speed descents, and awed admiration for these world class athletes pushing themselves to the limit.

After the race a curious article was being passed around for show and tell: the front half of a Slipstream bicycle. Word was the rider had crashed hard into one of the service vehicles, breaking his bike literally in two; thankfully the rider escaped with minor injuries. Taking a deep breath, I gave Justin a big smile and a thumbs-up as he and his teammates pedaled off to the hotel.

P.S. Many thanks to the Toyota United team for accommodating me in the team car. It was a thrilling and memorable experience for this cycling fan.

Stage 5: Martinsburg Circuit Race

“I love this kind of racing,” Harm said excitedly, “it’s so dynamic and tactical.”

We were halfway through the first of three 20 mile circuits. Attacks were going off the front rapid-fire and just as quickly being chased down by the peloton. “Me too,” I said confidently, “love the dynamic and tactical...” ‘Hmmm, thinking to myself, nobody in the car believes that, better fess up.’ Timidly I said, “Not to appear ignorant, (though that’s just what I am when it comes to high level road racing) but I don’t get what you mean.”

That admission kicked off several days of pretty intense education on the subject, as Harm Jansen, Toyota-United team director, was kind enough to invite me to join him in the team Prius, and extra kind and patient to explain things to me. Repeatedly.

“Today’s race doesn’t totally favor any one kind of racer. It has climbs, but not enough to be a pure climber’s race. It might come down to a sprint but the right break could stay away. So everybody has a shot and sharp tactical riding can make the difference.”

“Okay,” I replied, “I got the part about the climbers, but what do you mean about the ‘right’ break?”

“One that doesn’t have any of the top GC guys in it, that doesn’t threaten Healthnet’s GC position.”

“What about that last one with six guys in it? None of them were high in GC, but it got chased down pretty quickly.”

“That might have been a good break for those teams — the ones in the break—but it wasn’t any good for us. Or Navigators either. Our guys and Navigators brought that one back real quick.”

“But why? If all those guys were low in GC, wouldn’t it be okay with us?”

“Well, it wouldn’t hurt us, but it wouldn’t help us either. We want a break that’ll make Healthnet work. If GC isn’t threatened, they can relax and save their energy for tomorrow. Which doesn’t really help us.”

“So we really don’t care about getting the stage win?”

“Yeah, yeah, we do want the stage win if we can get it, but GC is the real prize. That’s what we’re here for. That and NRC points.”

I got it at that point, sort of, and decided not to question further at the moment, time to watch and listen.

Race radio came through, “We have a group of eight riders with a slight gap. Peloton is not responding. Stand by for numbers.” Moments later we learned the break included Caleb Manion plus two Navigators, no Health Net. “This is a good break for us!” Harm exclaimed. Then into the team radio, Caleb, you have a 30 second gap and they’re not chasing. Full gas!”

Caleb continued to work well with the others in the break and drive the pace for the next two circuits before the other teams got a chase organized. In the final circuit cooperation in the break fell apart and so did the gap.

The break was caught with some 10 kilometers to go and the closing pace was frenetic. The last two kilometers were in town with sharp turns and a sprint finish that left the Toyota-United riders off the podium. Menzies picked up another five-second time bonus to lead GC by 24 seconds with five Toyota-United riders—Baldwin, Wherry, England, Manion, and Swindlehurst—in a tie for third place. The guys are swarming for an attack.

Tomorrow is the big day.

Stage 3: Johnstown to Altoona Road Race

“Passive-aggressive, guys, passive-aggressive,” team director Harm Jansen reminded the team of their strategy for the day from the driver’s seat of the Toyota Prius. “We want to make Health Net work to protect the jersey. It will pay off in the days to come. So no heroics today.”

The weather was fine throughout the day, the threatening rain clouds keeping their distance as the race wound through the lush green hills and farmland of central Pennsylvania. At one point a paddock of big wooly brown bison chewed their cuds and stared disinterestedly at the bikes and cars, like, well, like cows at a passing train. In the early going numerous attacks tried and failed to hold until about twenty miles into the race a group of five escaped, including Toyota-United’s Heath Blackgrove.

“This is good,” Harm said as much to himself as to the others in the car. “This is very good,” he repeated, animatedly, as the gap quickly grew to two minutes. With Heath and two strong Navigators (Van Ulden and Brooks) plus Tolleson from Slipstream and Tim Henry of Jittery Joes (a young rider feeling his oats to be in a break with these top pros), the break was not going to be easy to catch. The race situation continued steadily, the gap remaining between two and three minutes, for nearly two hours. Finally, with 25 miles remaining, Healthnet went to work, and it took 15 miles and several popped riders to close the gap. On the ensuing descent two Navigators—Chadwick and Cooke—jumped and established a quick 10 second gap. “Patient, guys. We’ll attack in the final rollers, England, then Wherry, then Baldwin last.”

The peloton had been whittled down to a final selection of about 25, including Baldwin, Wherry, and England. All three were near the front we could see from the car as the hard-charging bunch leaned into a curve ahead of us. But so was Karl Menzies, currently in the yellow jersey. Somehow he had recovered and made his way to the front after a tough climb.

In the end Menzies attacked the field AND a concrete median at the finish, beating them both with a flying leap and a big toothy grin. The final 90 degree turn into the Logan Valley Mall parking lot included a six-inch-high concrete traffic separation median, the subject of much controversy as to who legally finished first. Some of the riders stayed to the right of the median, as would normal vehicular traffic, and as the race organizers intended. But 50 meters from the finish is a bad place for a right angle tight turn onto a single traffic lane. Cutting the corner and jumping the curb may have prevented an ugly crash, and may also have given Menzies the W. “He went off course and jumped the #&@*%% curb! That gave him the $#%^**ing race!” one rider was hear to exclaim. Bike racing—it’s not for the faint of heart.

The Toyota-United team rode a terrific race, like the seasoned pros they are. Health Net’s work in the break was especially important because it forced them to burn a lot of their energy to close the gap. They won the day, but it remains to be seen what happens to the big prize. Baldwin and Wherry were able to minimize their effort (not to ‘minimize’ their effort...) and not lose any time, except for the finishing time bonuses. So they are still in good position to compete for GC, and England, Swindlehurst, and Manion were able to conserve their energy for the next three days when it may be needed more. And all the riders finished safely well within the time limit.

Several minutes after the lead group, Ivan Dominguez coasted in and flashed a big grin at the knot of teammates who were commiserating about the unfortunate finish, a grin that would lift anyone’s spirits.

Editor's Note: The race officials agreed the finish was not proper, blaming the course setup, and neutralized the stage: no places were awarded, no time bonuses, no prize money, and no NRC points.

Charlotte - A crash that took out Caleb Manion less than 15 miles from the finish of Saturday night's Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium dashed the hopes of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team.

The news for Manion is not good. The 26-year-old Australian suffered a fractured right clavicle (collar bone) and will miss the remainder of the season.

“If we don’t have that crash with Caleb, it’s a different race,” Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett said. “We were pretty deflated after seeing him go down.”

Just before his crash, Manion was riding in a breakaway of about 15 riders that included his Toyota-United teammate, Chris Wherry. With about 12 laps remaining in the 40-lap, 50-mile race National Race Calendar and U.S.A. CRITS Championship series event, Manion crashed out on one of the eight turns on the 1.2-mile course through Charlotte City Center.

“That was a pretty big blow,” Willett said. “We just can’t seem to avoid misfortune.”

At the time of Manion’s crash, Toyota-United was working hard to keep Ivan Dominguez – who won this race in its first running in 2004 – in contention for what was hoped to be a field sprint. But Manion’s crash demoralized his teammates, Willett said, and decimated the horsepower necessary to bring back a late-race attack by eventual winner Frank Pipp (Health Net presented by Maxxis). Jesse Anthony (Kodakgallery.com/Sierra Nevada Pro Cycling) second and Yosvany Falcon (AEG-Toshiba-JetNetwork Professional Cycling Team) was third.

Manion’s injury is the latest in a long list of maladies that have kept Toyota-United from racing at full strength for much of the season. The riders who have missed races, the problem and their time away:

- Mark Scanlon (family matters), 30 weeks
- Heath Blackgrove (leg injury), 11 weeks
- Bobby Lea (leg surgery), eight weeks
- Ivan Dominguez (back, rib injuries), eight weeks
- Chris Wherry (relapse of parasite), six weeks
- Ivan Stevic (knee pain), six weeks
- Sean Sullivan (knee pain), three weeks
- Henk Vogels (broken glenoid), eight weeks
- Caleb Manion (broken clavicle), eight weeks

Driving the Toyota-United Prius team car will be only a memory
for Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett after this weekend.
Portland, Ore. — Kirk Willett will trade his responsibilities as Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team Director for a backpack full of books following this weekend’s races in North Carolina.

Willett, 37, begins medical school at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland after he directs Toyota-United Saturday at the Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium in Charlotte and Sunday at the Hanes Park Criterium in Winston-Salem, N.C.

“It’s always exciting to move on to new things and new challenges,” Willett said. “But at the same time, I’ve spent so much time investing and learning in one aspect of my life that I’m saying goodbye to something that’s been a part of me for 20 years.”

His plan to become a physician dates back to his pursuit of a career in medicine in the late 80s and early 90s. But he put the schooling on hold to start a career in racing that included time with the U.S. National Team (both domestically and abroad), as well as stints with the Nutra Fig, Mercury and Prime Alliance cycling teams.

Willett took a break from cycling after spending three years (2000-2003) as team director for Prime Alliance. After graduating summa cum laude with a degree in general science from the University of Oregon, he accepted Toyota-United Team Owner Sean P. Tucker’s invitation in January to get back into the sport as co-director with another former racer, Harm Jansen.

“The opportunity to bring Kirk on board – with his experience as both a racer and a director – was one that we could not pass up,” Tucker said. “In addition to being a tremendous tactician and motivator, he helped create camaraderie this year that is not one often seen in a sport that tends to focus on individuals. He will definitely be missed.”

Willett said he would like nothing more than for Toyota-United to send him out a winner. The squad is locked in a fierce battle with Health Net presented by Maxxis for the lead in the team category of the National Race Calendar standings.

“Not to sound greedy, but winning this weekend would go a long ways toward winning the NRC,” Willett said. “We have a lot of guys who are motivated to lay it all on the line. Win, lose or draw, I’ll be able to say we gave everything we had to winning.”

As part of his new endeavor, Willett and his wife, Tina, and their two young sons, Liam and Noah, have moved from their longtime home in Bend, Ore., to Portland. Willett said commuting to school by bike means he won’t be saying goodbye to the sport for good.

“Hopefully, I’ll get out to a local race once a year,” he said. “For sure I’m going to be involved in the sport in some way for the rest of my life. But who knows exactly what form that will be. We’ll have to see where my education takes me. I’ve done it for so long, it will always be a part of me.”