Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 2007

Swindlehurst was Toyota-United's best finisher in the 110-mile race.
Greenville, S.C. - Burke Swindlehurst’s 10th-place finish Sunday led the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team at the USA Cycling Pro Championship Road Race.

Swindlehurst was one of four Toyota-United riders in the 110-mile (177 km) race, three of whom finished. Chris Wherry was 20th and Justin England was 28th. Chris Baldwin joined eventual race winner Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team) in a record ascent of Paris Mountain (see related story) before withdrawing from the race.

Swindlehurst was with a small group that was chasing Leipheimer entering the first of three 3.76-mile (6.1 km) circuits in downtown Greenville. Swindlehurst attacked repeatedly, only to be chased down each time by Bobby Julich (CSC).

After four unsuccessful attacks, Swindlehurst lost contact with the group when George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) attacked.

"I took a bit of a calculated risk thinking there was no way Julich and the other guys with me were going to let Hincapie go," Swindlehurst said. "Then, when I realized everybody was hurting, it was too late for myself to get across. All I could hope for was some cohesion in the group, but it didn’t happen."

Driving behind in the Toyota Prius Team Car, Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen had already seen the signs that Leipheimer would not be brought back.

“When the gap was one minute and 20 seconds over the last climb and we came down the climb and saw there was no organized chase, I knew Leipheimer was going to stay away,” he said.

Leipheimer won by 71 seconds over Discovery Channel teammate and defending champion George Hincapie. Neil Shirley (Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team) was third, 1:14 behind Leipheimer.

Toyota-United’s England said the pace up Paris Mountain was a lot more steady than the fierce attacks that saw the pack whittled in half each time up the climb last year. In an attempt to bring more riders to the finish, race organizers eliminated one 21-mile (34 km) lap. Still, only 30 of 114 starters finished.

“The last time up the climb, we had four guys still in the race,” Jansen said. “Burke had a shot at a great result but in the end, it’s a timing issue of who happens to make the right attack.”

Swindlehurst, who finished fourth in this race a year ago, said his legs were cramping, but he was hanging tough until the final 500-meter riser to the finish, where he conceded a few places.

“I almost felt like I had better legs than last year,” he said. “If there had been one more lap up Paris Mountain, I think the results might have been pretty similar to last year.”