Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 2007

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.