Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 2007

Altoona, Penn. — Ivan Dominguez of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team sprinted to a fourth-place finish on Stage 2 of the International Tour de ‘Toona on a day when only 58 of the 164 riders in the race finished in the lead group.

Karl Menzies (Health Net presented by Maxxis) won the Stage 2, 48.6-mile (78.2 km) Waste Management Vitondale to Cairnbrook Road Race ahead of Sergey Lagutin (Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) and Charles Dionne (Colavita/Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light).

Toyota-United’s Chris Baldwin was part of a small group that made a bid to escape the peloton late in the race, but the breakaway was reeled in.

“As soon as they caught, the guys tried to set up Ivan (Dominguez) for the sprint,” Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said. “Unfortunately, it had been a pretty hilly race with three good climbs in there and crosswinds at the end, so his legs weren’t quite as fresh.”

Seven of Toyota-United’s eight riders were among the 58 in the lead group. Dominguez moves up to fifth overall, while Chris Baldwin, Caleb Manion, Chris Wherry, Justin England, Burke Swindlehurst and Heath Blackgrove slot in spots six through 11th, respectively. All seven are 19 seconds behind Menzies, who takes the overall lead from his teammate, Nathan O’Neil, thanks to an eight-second time bonus for winning the stage.

Tuesday’s stage was filled with steep climbs and twisting descents made even trickier by some afternoon rain showers. Wednesday’s Stage 3, a 95.9-mile (154.3 km) road race from Johnstown to Altoona’s Logan Valley Mall, will be even more of a challenge, Jansen said, due to a long climb at the end.

“We have to be patient,” he said. “Tomorrow’s stage has a hard finish. There are two teams with some serious contenders for the overall and we have to race smart – very smart.”

Labels: Burke Swindlehurst, Chris Baldwin, Chris Wherry, Harm Jansen, heath blackgrove, Ivan Dominguez, Justin England

Dominguez (right) edges out Kirk O'Bee (Health Net presented by Maxxis) at the line.
Photo by Cascade Events Photography.

Bend, Ore. – A perfectly executed lead-out by the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team delivered Ivan Dominguez to victory Friday night at the Stage 4 Desert Orthopedics/Rebound Physical Therapy Downtown Criterium at the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic.

In front of a huge crowd stacked two- and three-people deep around the course, Dominguez held off Kirk O’Bee (HealthNet presented by Maxxis) while Dan Schmatz (BMC Pro Cycling Team) was third in the 90-minute race that had no effect on the overall standings.

The victory was Dominguez’s ninth win of the season, his fifth in a National Race Calendar event and his first since a crash May 17 sidelined him for eight weeks. It was also Toyota-United’s 27th win of the season and marked the second consecutive year the team has won the Friday night downtown criterium stage at the five-day, six-stage National Race Calendar event (Juan Jose Haedo won in 2006).

“It feels good to be winning again,” Dominguez said. “There were so many people here tonight that you can see a lot of people love cycling here. It was cool.”

Heading into Saturday’s 92.4-mile (148.7 km) Pacific Power Cascade Lakes Road Race, Toyota-United remains first in the team classification on the strength of three riders in the top 10 in the individual standings. Chris Baldwin is second, 13 seconds behind race leader Phil Zajicek (Navigators Insurance Cycling Team), defending champion Chris Wherry is fourth (1:12 behind) and three-time former Cascade Classic stage winner Burke Swindlehurst is 10th, 2:43 behind.

“I think our strength is definitely our depth,” Baldwin said. “We have a 1-2 punch with Wherry and every other team it’s a one-man show. So we’re going to have to use each other to put them in trouble. It’s going to be a real tall order, though, because they have the perfect team to defend his lead. Ben Day, Glen Chadwick and Darren Lill are all very strong and very good climbers and these last two races are not hard to control.”

Baldwin briefly held the race lead after finishing second in the race’s first two stages. But in Friday morning’s 15-mile (24.1 km) Bend Research, Inc.-Skyliners Time Trial, he conceded 30 seconds to Zajicek, who beat his Navigators teammate, Ben Day, by one second. Baldwin’s third place on the stage dropped him to second overall behind Zajicek. In third place overall is Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health Cycling Team presented by Bissell), 44 seconds behind Zajicek.

“My position on the bike was probably the best I’ve felt in a time trial all year,” Baldwin said. “So that’s a positive. But I’m used to winning time trials and I haven’t been winning in a long time so that’s frustrating. But I honestly think these guys are going faster. I’m not going slower.”

The overall team strength of Toyota-United was showcased in Friday night’s criterium. A nearly race-long breakaway of Oregon residents Ryan Trebon (Kodakgallery.com/Sierra Nevada Pro Cycling) and Doug Ollerenshaw (Health Net presented by Maxxis) that threatened to spoil the night for the sprinters never gained more than a 35-second lead, but it was not reeled in until the final laps. Zajicek’s Navigators squad kept the margin in check, but it was ultimately left to Toyota-United to help pull the escapees back.

Doing the lion’s share of the work on the front was Toyota-United’s Jose Manual “Chepe” Garcia, who recovered from a mid-race crash. Working with teammate Stefano Barberi, Garcia helped bring the gap to the break down to single-digits. From there, 12-time New Zealand national champion Heath Blackgrove took over, burying himself on the front and stringing the entire peloton into a single-file line as the final two escapees were absorbed with about four laps to go.

Justin England and Chris Baldwin each took turns on the front to keep the pace high, with Baldwin leading out Wherry three-quarters of the way around the course on the bell lap. From there, Wherry raised the tempo to its maximum, delivering Dominguez safely to the final corner for the block-and-a-half long sprint to the finish.

“You never know until you cross the finish line, but the way I was riding today, I knew it was mine to lose,” Dominguez said. “We had the last corner and I started giving chase. I passed him (O'Bee) very quickly.”

Baldwin’s last-lap turn at the front turned more than a few heads, who were startled at the sight of the rider in second place on general classification figuring so prominently into a stage where he was not destined to pull any time back.

“Usually how it works out is that guys who are going good are the guys who go to the front at the end who can turn up the heat the most,” Willett said. “The real only plan we had was that Wherry was going to be the last guy.”

Baldwin chuckled when asked about his turn at the front that caused huge gaps to open in the peloton as speeds reached more than 35 miles an hour.

“I used to win criteriums,” he said, smiling.

Labels: Chris Baldwin, Chris Wherry, Ivan Dominguez, Kirk Willett

Bend, Ore. - Chris Baldwin of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team rode into the overall lead at the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic Thursday by finishing second on Stage 2’s 79.5-mile (127.9 km) Meridian Realty McKenzie Pass Road Race.

Stage winner Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health Cycling Team presented by Bissell) out-sprinted Baldwin to the summit of McKenzie Pass. The previous race leader, Ricardo Escuela (Successfulliving.com presented by ParkPre), was third, 11 seconds behind Jacques-Maynes and eight seconds behind Baldwin.

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Photo by Cascade Events Photography.

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Baldwin heads into Friday’s double-stage day with a five-second lead over Escuela and a nine-second advantage over Jacques-Maynes. In all, nine riders are within a minute of Baldwin, including a pair of his Toyota-United teammates – Chris Wherry (sixth, 31 seconds behind) and Justin England (seventh, 51 seconds behind).

“I’m feeling pretty good,” Baldwin said following his second straight runner-up placing at the five-day, six-stage National Race Calendar event. “I kind of always find my form at this race. It’s nice to be up here in Bend.”

Friday morning is the Stage 3 Bend Research, Inc.-Skyliners Time Trial. At 15 miles (24.1 km), it is double the distance it was last year when Wherry won the race overall on tie-breaker criteria. Stage 4 is the 90-minute Desert Orthopedics/Rebound Physical Therapy Criterium through the streets of Downtown Bend.

Baldwin said he rode the time trial course Tuesday and found it to be “pretty straightforward” – uphill going out and downhill coming back.

“It’s about 7.5 miles out on a two- to three-percent grade, which makes it real fast on the way back,” the two-time former U.S. National Time Trial champion said. “I would say this has been the kind of time trial that has suited me in the past.”

Baldwin credited his Toyota-United teammates for riding another textbook race Thursday. After a two-man breakaway of Glenn Chadwick (Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) and Scott Zwizanski (Priority Health) gained six minutes, Toyota-United let Escuela’s Successful Living team do the chasing. When the gap came down to two minutes, Jose Manuel “Chepe” Garcia and Stefano Barberi of Toyota-United contributed to the pursuit of the pair.

“With Successful Living having to ride today it was phenomenal for saving our energy,” Baldwin said.

Three more racers – Matt Cooke (Navigators), Ryan Trebon (Kodakgallery.com-Sierra Nevada Pro Cycling) and David Vitoria (BMC Professional Cycling Team) – bridged to the pair as the final 35-mile (56 km) climb began but Zwizanski flatted and was dropped. The two Navigators riders increased the lead, but Toyota-United contributed again to the chase, adding Heath Blackgrove into the mix.

With five kilometers remaining, the four escapees had been reeled in and the attacks among a final leading group of 18 riders began.

“Burke (Swindlehurst) did a great job of containing things for us after Stefano and Heath were finished on the front,” Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett said.

As the leading group dwindled, Baldwin sprinted away with a few hundred meters remaining, but Jacques-Maynes came around him for the stage win.

Toyota-United has high hopes of picking up a stage win of its own in Friday night’s criterium. The squad – which leads the team general classification – won the stage last year with sprinter J.J. Haedo. This year, Willett said Ivan Dominguez will be the man behind the lead-out train.

“We’re definitely going to ride for Dominguez,” Willett said. “This is one of those courses where you don’t save a lot of energy sitting 40 or 50 guys back. So the field is really going to be funneled out.”

Although he has not won a race in 2007, Baldwin has finished second overall at two stage races (Tour of the Gila and Tri-Peaks Challenge) and third overall at two others (Central Valley Classic and the Joe Martin Stage Race). This is the first time this season that he has worn a race leader’s jersey.

Before Thursday’s stage, race officials adjusted several riders’ finishing times from Wednesday’s Stage 1 road race, narrowing the margin between stage winner Escuela and Baldwin from 21 to three seconds. A transcription error was to blame, Willett said, after speaking with the officials.

Labels: Chris Baldwin, Chris Wherry, Ivan Dominguez, Jose Manuel-Garcia, Justin England, Kirk Willett, Stefano Barberi

Toyota-United's Heath Blackgrove spent more than 120 km in a seven-man breakaway.
Photos by Cascade Events Photography.
Bend, Ore. - Chris Baldwin’s second-place finish led four Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team riders in the top 12 on the Ironhorse-Brooks Resources Prineville Road Race on Stage 1 Wednesday at the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic.

Baldwin was out-sprinted to the summit of Pilot Butte by Ricardo Escuela (Successfulliving.com presented by ParkPre), who won the stage in three hours, 38 minutes and 13 seconds. Baldwin finished 21 seconds behind, followed by Phil Zajicek (Navigators Insurance Cycling), 27 seconds behind Escuela.

Joining Baldwin in the top 12 was Toyota-United’s Chris Wherry (sixth, at 41 seconds), Justin England (seventh, at 45 seconds) and Burke Swindlehurst (11th, at 53 seconds). Only 15 riders finished within a minute of the leader.

“The plan for today’s stage was to do whatever we could to make sure those four guys didn’t have to do anything,” Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett said. “We were going to be happy if it was an 80-rider bunch starting at the base of the final climb. With Heath (Blackgrove) covering the long break, it was sort of a get-out-of-jail-free card.”

By placing Blackgrove in a break of seven riders early on in the race, Toyota-United was afforded the luxury of sitting in the pack for much of the 91.2-mile (146.7 km) stage. Joining him in the escape were two riders from Successfulliving.com, plus Doug Ollerenshaw (Health Net presented by Maxxis), Ben Day (Navigators Insurance Cycling Team), Scott Zwizanski (Priority Health Cycling Team presented by Bissell) and Scott Nydam (BMC Professional Cycling Team).

Their lead reached a maximum gap of seven minutes and 45 seconds before the pack began chasing on the way up the stage’s other climb, which came about 30 miles (48 km) from the finish. Because not everyone in the break was fully committed to making it stick, Willett said Toyota-United chipped in to help bring it back.

“We put Chepe Garcia and Stefano Barberi on the front and Priority Health had two guys working and BMC put some guys in,” he said.

Navigator’s Day, who had been the primary driver of the break, began to fade with about 10 kilometers remaining – including the final ascent to Pilot Butte (elevation: 4,138 feet). Immediately, his Navigators team massed at the front to finally reel in the escapees about a third of the way up the final climb.

“Baldwin didn’t have the best position when he started the climb but he’s riding well and caught up to the leaders about halfway up the climb,” Willett said. “With about a kilometer or so, he started driving it to the line and only Zajicek and Escuela were there. Escuela came around him in the last 150 meters or so.”

Baldwin is looking for his first victory of the season while Wherry is the race’s defending champion. With Wednesday’s balanced placings, Toyota-United leads the team classification.

Thursday’s stage is the 79.5-mile (127.9 km) Meridian Realty McKenzie Pass Road Race, which travels through the Dechutes National Forest past jagged lava fields featuring spectacular mountain views. It finishes with a gradual, 35-mile ascent of McKenzie pass to one of Central Oregon's favorite attractions, the Dee Wright Observatory, which sits at an elevation of 5,187 feet.

Willett said without any time bonuses up for grabs, he expects Successfulliving.com will be motivated to keep the leader’s yellow jersey on the back of Escuela. That should help Toyota-United conserve its energy for Friday morning’s all-important 15-mile (24.1 km) Bend Research, Inc.–Skyliners Time Trial, he said.

“The last climb Thursday is never steeper than five percent but it’s hard enough that the non-climbers will be eliminated,” Willett said. “Still, for the top 10 to 15 riders, it is unlikely to be a decisive stage.”

Labels: Burke Swindlehurst, Chris Baldwin, Chris Wherry, heath blackgrove, Jose Manuel-Garcia, Justin England, Kirk Willett, Sean Tucker, Stefano Barberi

Toyota-United will put no fewer than four riders on the start line of this week's Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Classic stage race who have the ability to win the overall title.

The powerful lineup features:

■ Two-time (2002 and 2006) Cascade winner Chris Wherry (second from left), who won last year’s race on the final stage.

■ Chris Baldwin (right), who has a pair of runner-up finishes in National Race Calendar stage races (Tour of the Gila, Tri-Peaks Challenge) to his credit this season.

■ Burke Swindlehurst (second from right), a three-time stage winner (1998, 2002 and last year) at Cascade who won the mountainous High Uintas Classic stage race last month.

■ Justin England (far left), a climbing specialist who finished second on the difficult Oak Glenn stage earlier this year at the Redlands Classic.

So much talent on one team for one race is a nice problem to have, said Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett.

“Baldwin, Wherry and England are all riding to maintain their pos-itions on the National Race Calendar standings,” Willett. “So those guys will be protected. Burke is in a role where he’s had such incredible results at this race before that with the right strategy or breakaway, he’ll be right in there, too.”

Wherry (pictured winning a time bonus sprint that won him the race last year) has had a quiet season, though he has played an integral role in many of the team’s victories by powering its lead-out train.

“We’re hopeful this is the event where he comes out and is on form,” Willett said.

Baldwin is searching for his first victory of 2007 after compiling five second-place and five third-place finishes.

“With the time trial being twice as long as it was last year, he’s a big favorite,” Willett said.

Also in the lineup for Toyota-United will be Ivan Dominguez, who has his eyes on Friday night’s Stage 4 Desert Orthopedics/Rebound Physical Therapy Downtown Criterium. Dominguez will race Cascade for the first time and see his first action in a stage race since crashing out of the Tri-Peaks Challenge in mid-May.

“I really want to do this race,” Dominguez said. “I cannot keep training and training and training. I need to race to get faster.”

In addition to those five, the remainder of Toyota-United’s roster will be Stefano Barberi, Heath Blackgrove and either Sean Sullivan or Jose Manuel “Chepe” Garcia. Sullivan experienced some knee pain over the weekend, Willett said, keeping him out of the team’s lineup for the Cougar Mountain Classic.

Toyota-United lead-out specialist Henk Vogels is out for six to eight weeks with a broken collarbone suffered on the first day at Cougar Mountain while newly crowned “B” World Champion Ivan Stevic remains in Europe after racing in his country’s national championship.

Labels: Burke Swindlehurst, Chris Baldwin, Chris Wherry, Justin England, Kirk Willett

Ivan Stevic's victory was his first stage race win since turning pro in 2005.
Stillwater, Minn. - Ivan Stevic will be the first to tell you that his first overall stage race victory in his two-and-a-half seasons as a professional was hardly an individual effort.

Stevic’s Toyota-United Pro Cycling teammates helped the 27-year-old win the opening criterium of the Nature Valley Grand Prix. Then they spent the rest of the five-day, six-stage National Race Calendar event chasing down break-aways or controlling the field in the race’s remaining criterium and two road stages.

After losing the lead after Thursday night’s Cannon Falls Road Race, the two-time Serbian National Champion regained it with a stunning third-place in the following morning’s time trial.

Stevic sealed the win – and his victory in the Wheaties sprint points competition – by finishing sixth in Sunday’s criterium in the same time as winner Frank Pipp (Health Net).

On the final classification, Stevic finished 27 seconds ahead of Rory Sutherland (Health Net) in a race that covered 251 miles (405 km) in a blazingly fast 29.2 mph.

Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said the team approached the race with the idea that Stevic would win.

“He had the best odds,” Jansen said. “If you limit mistakes, you secure those odds.
“It’s always tough to ride a flawless race but that’s where the state of the team comes in. This group of guys can really pull together and make it happen. If you have a concise, clear plan in place, everyone can visualize that win and that’s they did this week.”

Henk Vogels said the timing of the victory was also good.

“This was the most valuable race of the year for us as far as the NRC is concerned,” he said.

Race Note: Chris Wherry said he is feeling better after having to abandon the race after the second stage. “I had a cold and it went straight to my lungs, which made it hard to breathe,” he said. “I’m already doing better and looking forward to racing at Manhattan Beach next week.”

Labels: Chris Wherry, Harm Jansen, Henk Vogels, Ivan Stevic