Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 2007

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.”