Toyota-United Sweeps Vasalia Criterium
1 Comments Published by Unknown on Sunday, March 18, 2007 at 7:19 PM.
Vasalia, Calif. - A textbook lead-out to the finish delivered the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team its first-ever 1-2-3 finish Sunday at the Quad Knopf Sequoia Cycling Classic Criterium.
Ivan Dominguez took the win – his fifth of the season – while teammates Ivan Stevic and Henk Vogels crossed the finish line in second and third, respectively, at the end of the 40-mile (64.4 km) race in Visalia, Calif.
“You can pretty much say domination was the word of the day,” Vogels said.
Dominguez said the victory was even more memorable because of his teammates’ finishes.“It was nice to see Stevic and Henk get second and third,” he said. “I looked back and saw they were right behind me and thought ‘this is good.’ ”
Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said he knew a sweep was possible, but not likely due to the quality of sprinters in the field.
“It was a perfect lead-out from setting tempo, to ramping it up and having the guys peel off,” Jansen said. “I think the guys are pretty much getting the feel of each other.”
Toyota-United’s sweep of the top three podium places is a rare accomplishment on the National Race Calendar circuit. It was last achieved on June 18, 2006 when the Health Net presented by Maxxis squad finished 1-2-3 overall at the Nature Valley Grand Prix Stage Race.
Key to accomplishing the impressive finish, Jansen said, was keeping the pace high throughout the 57-lap race.
“Every team knew to have a chance to win, they would have to break away,” he said.
There were plenty of attacks launched in the first half of the race, but none of them stuck thanks to the rapid pace set by Toyota-United. With 20 laps to go, the team put all eight of its riders on the front to prepare for a furious finish.
“With five laps to go, we were riding tempo at 45 kph (29 mph),” Vogels said. “When Chris Wherry took over with a lap to go, the speed was up to 55 kph (34 mph) and I was doing about 60 kph (37 mph) when Ivan and Stevic came around me down the stretch.”
Dominguez’s victory was Toyota-United’s seventh of the season and its third at an NRC event. The Cuban said despite his impressive results to date, there is still room for improvement.
“Right now I’m about 70 percent,” Dominguez said. “I don’t want to get in form too quickly because there are still a lot of races to come.”
Coming into the weekend, Toyota-United led the NRC team standings and had three riders in the top 10 in the individual rankings.
“We go into Redlands with very good morale,” Jansen said, looking ahead to this week’s four-day stage race which begins Thursday.
Solvang Century Ride Is Saturday
0 Comments Published by Unknown on Monday, March 5, 2007 at 8:21 AM.
Two members of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team will ride alongside thousands of recreational cyclists to benefit the SCOR Cardiac Cyclists Club, Camp Del Corazon, Camp Bon Coeur.As part of the team’s commitment to promoting health and wellness, Toyota-United’s Ivan Dominguez and Sean Sullivan will join more than 5,000 recreational cyclists in the fight against heart disease at the annual Solvang Century Ride on Saturday, March 10th in Solvang, Calif.
The ride, now in its 25th year, is the hallmark event of the SCOR Cardiac Cycling Club, a non-profit bike club started in 1974 to encourage bicycling as rehabilitative therapy after heart surgery, angioplasty and other forms of heart disease. All proceeds will benefit SCOR and heart-related projects, Camp del Corazon and Camp Bon Coeur.
“Toyota-United is thrilled to be participating in one of Solvang’s richest cycling traditions and ride for such an important cause,” says Team Owner, Sean Tucker who will be joining Dominguez and Sullivan on the 100-mile charity ride. “Heart disease is the number one killer in this country and by supporting the efforts of SCOR, we hope to educate people on the long-term health benefits of cycling.”
Toyota-United will also have a presence at the event’s Cycling Expo with a fan interactive tent area. The tent features a look a the new Hybrid Synergy Drive-powered 2007 Toyota Prius Team Car, team video, a retail store including apparel and team merchandise, and membership kiosks allowing fans to become a part of the Toyota-United team
Throughout the 2007 cycling season, Toyota-United will be participating in a number of recreational rides across the country in support of a variety of wellness-related causes. Scheduled events include Bike New York in New York City on May 5th and Pan Mass Challenge in Boston on August 4th.
Dominguez Wins NRC Season Opener
0 Comments Published by Unknown on Saturday, March 3, 2007 at 8:41 PM.
Merced, Calif (March 3) – Ivan Dominguez scored the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team’s fourth victory of the young season Saturday by winning the 14th Annual MERCO Credit Union Cycling Classic Downtown Grand Prix, the opening event of the National Race Calendar series.The Cuban native easily outsprinted Ricardo Escuela (Team Successful Living presented by Parkpre USA) and Dan Schmatz (BMC Racing) at the end of the 40-mile (65 km) criterium through the downtown streets of Merced, Calif.
Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett said the victory could not have been achieved without cohesive teamwork. Toyota-United kept a pair of breakaways in check to set up Henk Vogels’ lead out of Dominguez. Vogels held on to finish fifth, while teammate Sean Sullivan was 13th.
“This was a hard-fought one,” Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett said. “We were pushed to the limit.”
The win was Dominguez’s fourth of the year and his second in less than a week. On Feb. 25, the “Cuban Missile” won Stage 7 of the Amgen Tour of California in a sprint finish in Long Beach, Calif.
Toyota-United, Health Net presented by Maxxis, BMC Racing and Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifest were among a number of teams fielding full squads for the 50-lap race. Health Net was the early animator, determined not to let it finish in a bunch sprint, which would favor Dominguez.
One third of the way through the race, a 20-man group did get away, sparked by an attack by a pair of Health Net riders. Toyota-United covered the move by putting Ivan Stevic and Caleb Manion into the break while keeping the pace high of the peloton behind.
“That was a dangerous point because we had two guys up the road but we had to keep the gap close enough to motivate other teams to be able to jump across to it,” Willett said. “Guys like Chepe (Jose-Manuel Garcia), Burke (Swindlehurst) and Stefano (Barberi) were really riding well.”
After the peloton came back together, two riders jumped off the front and gained a maximum of 15 seconds’ lead. But just as the efforts of Toyota-United closed the gap to five seconds, a third rider - Health Net’s Kirk O’Bee - jumped across to the pair and boosted the margin back to 15 seconds with three laps to go.But Toyota-United responded once more, with Sullivan, Manion and Stevic burying themselves on the front to get Vogels and Dominguez within striking distance. As the break was caught on the backside of the course on the final lap, Vogels charged into the lead with Dominguez right behind.
“Ivan hit the front with 250 meters to go with two guys on his wheel and they just couldn’t go around him,” Willett said. “Henk was going so fast he just rolled across the line and still finished fifth.”
14th Annual MERCO Cycling Classic Downtown Grand Prix
Merced, Calif. Saturday, March 3, 2007:
1. Ivan Dominguez, Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team
2. Ricardo Escuela, Successful Living.com presented by Parkpre USA
3. Daniel Schmatz, BMC Professional Cycling Team
4. Dominique Rollin, Kodak Gallery presented by Sierra Nevada
5. Henk Vogels, Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team
6. Ryan McKenzie, Volkswagen Trek
7. Shawn Milne, Health Net presented by Maxxis
8. Dusan Ganic, Successful Living.com presented by Parkpre USA
9. Jamiel Danesh, Kodak Gallery presented by Sierra Nevada
10. Karl Menzies, Health Net presented by Maxxis
Dominguez Wins Final Stage of Tour of California
0 Comments Published by Unknown on Sunday, February 25, 2007 at 8:12 PM.
Long Beach, Calif. (Feb. 25) - It all came together for Toyota-United sprinter Ivan Dominguez when the Cuban won the sprint finish of Stage 7 on the final stage of the Tour of California Sunday.
A seven-rider breakaway group that included Toyota-United’s Sean Sullivan got away on the first of 10 circuits through the streets of Long Beach and built a nearly three-minute lead at the halfway point of the 77.5-mile race.
But the group was caught five miles from the finish, putting into motion Toyota-United's plan to lead out Dominguez for the sprint. Veteran Euro-pro Henk Vogels executed the lead out to perfection as the peloton stormed toward the finish, allowing Dominguez to come through for his third win of the season.
Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel Pro Cycling) won the Tour of California overall, completing the 650-mile race in 24 hours, 57 minutes and 24 seconds.
Labels: Dominguez, Tour of California
