Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 2007

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

Sonoma, Calif. – Any hopes that the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team had of earning some valuable National Race Calendar points at the Infineon Cougar Mountain Classic were dashed during Saturday afternoon’s criterium at the Infineon Raceway.

A mid-race crash knocked out Toyota-United’s Australian strongman, Henk Vogels (see story below), Ivan Dominguez saw his chance to win dashed by a crash and Sean Sullivan didn’t even start the race after complaining of knee pain.

“This was not a good race for us,” Dominguez said.

The team’s first-day misfortunes left only Ryan Miller (right) and Jose Manuel “Chepe” Garcia to compete in Sunday’s circuit race. Miller made it to the halfway point of the 120-minute event before withdrawing with knee pain. Garcia spent an hour in a six-man breakaway but succumbed to cramps on the final lap and finished alone in sixth place.

Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett said it was disappointing the team ran into a string of bad luck at a time when it hoped to make up ground in the NRC team standings. Heading into the weekend, Toyota-United stood 157 points behind three-time defending NRC team champion Health Net presented by Maxxis.

“Unfortunately, this is kind of the way it is in bike racing,” Willett said. “You never know when accidents are going to happen. But to have two of them in one day is really bad luck.”

Dominguez’s crash Saturday came at a time when it appeared the Cuban sprint specialist was in perfect position to win his ninth race of the year. He had been part of a group of 10 riders who lapped the field halfway through the 90-minute criterium.

With two turns to go, Dominguez was sitting in third place, following the wheel of Alessandro Bazzana (Successfulliving.com presented by ParkPre), who was being led out for the sprint by a teammate.

“The first guy didn’t make it through the turn and went straight,” Dominguez said. “Bazzana braked so I had to brake too. I was going to be OK, but when you’re going 60 kilometers an hour the people behind you can’t get stopped and someone hit me.”

Dominguez was one of several riders who went down. Bazzana was not hit and won the sprint unchallenged. Because he had been part of the breakaway that was a lap up on the field, Dominguez was placed 10th.


Sunday, as Dominguez sat out the circuit race, Garcia (right) and Miller did their best to hang tough around the 2.5-mile circuit that featured a short – but steep – climb.

“There were a lot of attacks,” Garcia said. “I was in almost every break because I didn’t know which one was going to go.”
Halfway through the two-hour race, a break of six – which included Garcia – escaped the field. Suddenly, Garcia was a marked man.

“Everybody was waiting for me to attack because I ride for Toyota-United,” he said. “I felt good but on the last lap, I was a little tired.”

The final trip up the climb proved to be his undoing and Garcia was left behind. He finished 30 seconds behind Bazzana, who won by two seconds over Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health presented by Bissell).

Labels: Ivan Dominguez, Jose Manuel-Garcia, Ryan Miller

Left to right: "Chepe" Garcia, Sean Sullivan, Ivan Stevic and Henk Vogels.
Austin, Texas — The Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team will field one of the strongest squads for Saturday’s 2007 AT&T Austin Downtown Criterium, the fourth race of the USA CRITS Series.

Toyota-United’s lineup for the 70-minute race consists of Serbian national champion Ivan Stevic, Australian Tour de France veteran Henk Vogels, former Mexican national champion Jose Manuel “Chepe” Garcia and former Australian Under 19 national champion Sean Sullivan.

The four are responsible for five of Toyota-United’s 21 victories this season. Stevic scored one of the team’s most impressive wins on Stage 2 of the Tour de Georgia when he soloed over the top of Clocktower Hill in Rome, Ga., to notch the only victory by a domestic team at the ProTour race.

Toyota-United has been ranked either first or second all season in the National Race Calendar team standings. In addition to its 21 wins, the team has more than 60 podium finishes (first, second or third placings) to its credit and is rapidly closing in on the 100-win mark in just its second season as a professional cycling team.

Vogels was Toyota-United’s best finisher in Philadelphia, placing 13th. He was one of a number of racers that were delayed by a crash a couple hundred meters from the finish line.

“It’s frustrating when you ride six hours and everything comes unglued in the last kilometer,” Sullivan said about the end to the 156-mile (251 km) race that was won by former Toyota-United rider Juan Jose Haedo.

At the last USA CRIT Series race in Arlington, Va., June 2, Stevic narrowly lost the sprint to Rashaan Bahati (Rock & Republic Cycling Team). Toyota-United did not field any riders for the first two races of the series.

Toyota-United is one of the most fan-friendly teams in the pro peloton. Its riders wear their last names on the backs of their jerseys for easy identification (like other “mainstream” sports such as basketball, football and baseball). The team also has a fan club that boasts 20,000 members who receive discounts on team merchandise and apparel, as well as monthly e-mail newsletter and other special offers. For more information, visit www.toyota-united.com.

Labels: Henk Vogels, Ivan Stevic, Jose Manuel-Garcia, Sean Sullivan

Toyota-United Team Soigneur Reed McCalvin helps Ivan Dominguez get ready
for the podium ceremony after Dominguez won the 110-mile road race.
Fayetteville, Ark. – Ivan Dominguez of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team grabbed the first-day lead at the 30th annual Joe Martin Stage Race with an impressive victory Friday in the Stage 1 road race.

Dominguez used the lead-out of teammate Ivan Stevic to jump past Karl Menzies (Health Net presented by Maxxis) coming out of the final turn at the end of the 110-mile (177 km) race. Stevic held on to place second, while Toyota-United had three others finish in the top 10: Chris Baldwin (sixth), Caleb Manion (ninth) and Justin England (10th).

The win was Toyota-United’s 15th of the season and its fifth in a National Race Calendar event. It was the eighth victory of the season for Dominguez, but his first since April 1. He came into the three-day, four-stage race in fifth place in the NRC individual standings (after 12 events).

“I was a little worried how I would do because this is my first race since the Tour de Georgia,” Dominguez said. “But I felt good.”

For much of Friday’s race, it looked like three riders who escaped the pack after 12 miles (20 km) would battle it out for the stage win. The trio built an 11-minute lead before the combined efforts of Toyota-United, Health Net presented by Maxxis and the Jelly Belly Cycling Team started bringing the gap down. The last of the three was caught only 3.1 miles (5 km) from the finish.

“At one point, it looked like it was going to get a little tight, so everyone threw in an extra guy (to work),” Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said.

As the finish drew closer, Toyota-United put several riders on the front to set up a lead-out train for Dominguez. Manion handled the initial lead-out, followed by Stevic, who said he liked the uphill finish that featured a six-percent grade in the final 350 meters.

“I didn’t want to put him (Dominguez) in a bad situation by attacking and taking someone with me,” Stevic said. “So it was perfect to stay together and get him the win while I gained a few seconds.”

Due to time bonuses awarded on the finish, Dominguez has a five-second lead over Stevic while third-place finisher on the stage, Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly) is 10 seconds back. Menzies is fourth at 15 seconds and is tied on time with seven other riders, including Baldwin, Manion and England.

Last year, only 21 seconds separated the top three overall finishers: Gord Fraser (first), Stevic (second) and Scott Moninger (third).

“Those eight seconds that separate 10th place with everyone else’s time are crucial. A few GC guys lost a few seconds,” Jansen said.

Toyota-United’s other three riders are among 103 riders who are 23 seconds back: Stefano Barberi (54th place), Jose Manuel-Garcia (55th place), and Sean Sullivan (108th place).

Friday’s race featured more than 5,400 feet of climbing, including a 9.2-mile section with an average grade of 2.7 percent. But Stevic said the tempo being set by the three teams to reel the breakaway back helped Dominguez save his strength.

“It wasn’t that hard so it was good for Ivan,” the Serbian national champion said. “We didn’t go hard on the climbs so he had good legs for the finish.”

Saturday, the 131 remaining professional men’s riders will compete in two stages: a 92-mile (148 km) road race in the morning and a 2.5-mile (4 km) uphill time trial in the afternoon. The road race features a 23-mile loop that includes more than 1,500 feet of climbing on each of the three laps the riders will complete. The individual time trial is a 680-foot climb out of Devil’s Den State Park. The average grade is 6.8 percent.

“I hope to ride a good time trial because it’s going to make the different on the GC,” Stevic said. “But a lot of things can change on the last day because the criterium (on Sunday) is very technical and very hard.”

Labels: Caleb Manion, Chris Baldwin, Ivan Dominguez, Ivan Stevic, Jose Manuel-Garcia, Justin England, Stefano Barberi

Silver City, N.M. - Ivan Stevic’s bid for a stage win for the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team at the Tour of the Gila didn’t succeed Saturday. But it wasn’t for a lack of trying.

Twice, Stevic launched himself into viable breakaways during Stage 4’s 43.2-mile (69.7 km) Downtown Silver City Criterium. The first time, he bridged a 15-second gap to join teammate Jose Manuel-Garcia (pictured below), who was part of a five-man breakaway that formed halfway through the 34-lap race. With Stevic and Chad Hartley (BMC Pro Cycling) giving the escapees more power, their lead increased to 50 seconds.

“It was looking pretty good for us for awhile but then Jelly Belly and Health Net started riding tempo,” Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett said.

Inside of 10 laps remaining, the gap between the breakaway and the field was down to less than 15 seconds. This triggered Stevic’s second attack, which only Nick Reistad (Jelly Belly) could follow. But with Reistad under orders not to work, the two-time Serbian national champion was forced to go it alone. His efforts kept the pair out front until they were caught with two laps to go.

Despite working so hard Saturday – and in two long breakaways Thursday and Friday – Stevic still managed a fifth-place finish as Bryce Jones (Jelly Belly) won the field sprint. With the overall standings unchanged, Toyota-United’s Chris Baldwin remains in second place overall, one minute and 59 seconds behind Nathan O’Neill (Health Net presented by Maxxis). O’Neill has worn the leader’s pink jersey since winning the race’s opening time trial on Wednesday.

With only Sunday’s Gila Monster Road Race remaining, Toyota-United holds the lead in the team classification, thanks to having three riders in the top 11: Baldwin in second, Stefano Barberi in eighth, 3:43 behind) and Justin England in 11th, 3:56 behind. A fourth Toyota-United rider, Burke Swindlehurst, who was in ninth overall after Friday’s stage, came down with a stomach virus and was unable to start Saturday’s race, Willett said.

“Unfortunately, we lost a really strong guy for tomorrow,” Willett said.

Sunday’s 105.7-mile (170.2 km) race traditionally shakes up the overall standings, thanks to its challenging terrain, the altitude and overall distance.

“With O’Neill riding so well it will be hard to challenge him,” Willett said. “But he could find himself riding without any teammates in the last 20 miles. Then we’ll see what happens. It will definitely be a hard day.”

Labels: Chris Baldwin, Ivan Stevic, Jose Manuel-Garcia, Justin England, Kirk Willett

Richmond, Va. - Henk Vogel’s 12th place finish led the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team Saturday at the Inaugural U.S. Open Cycling Championships in Richmond, Va.

Canadian Svein Tuft (Symmetrics Cycling) soloed away from breakaway companion Pat McCarty (Team Slipstream Presented by Chipotle) in the final three miles to earn the victory in the 113-mile race from Williamsburg to Richmond. McCarty held off Alejandro Borrajo (Rite Aid) for second.

Besides Vogels, five other Toyota-United riders were among the 54 finishers: Sean Sullivan (18th), Ivan Stevic (27th), Ivan Dominguez (28th), Caleb Manion (29th) and Justin England (44th).

Vogels and Dominguez each found themselves in breakaways at some point during the race. Vogels was part of a group that never gained more than 30 seconds’ lead on the road to Richmond. Later, the Australian integrated himself into a three-man move that was off the front with five laps to go. But again, the gap never reached more than 30 seconds and Vogels’ escape ended with a flat tire.

Dominguez was part of a seven-rider group that tried to close the gap on McCarty when the Slipstream rider attacked with three laps to go. Instead, Tuft bridged across to McCarty and the pair quickly built a 39-second gap with two laps to go. Dominguez’s group was caught by the remnants of the pack with 5.5 miles to go, but Tuft and McCarty were already more than a minute up the road.

The dynamic I was worried about going into this race was that we would be in a position as the team to beat,” Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said. “So having the numbers at the end kind of put us at a disadvantage. Everyone else looked to us to do the chasing.”

Toyota-United’s Justin England said Stevic, Sullivan and Manion did what they could to close the gap and get Vogels and Dominguez in a position to win.

“We came up empty in the end, but we gave it a go,” he said.

The more-than-150 riders who started the race endured driving snow at the start that gave way to sunshine, only to have it start snowing again. Winds gusting to nearly 30 miles an hour buffeted the peloton, which stayed in intact until it reached the first of eight laps along a 5.5-mile circuit finish in Richmond. The race finished under sunny skies, with temperatures in the upper 30s.

“With the cold and the wind and the morning start, it made the race a lot harder,” Jansen said. “Had we had sunshine and warmer temperatures, it would have been much less harder.”

Labels: Caleb Manion, Henk Vogels, Ivan Dominguez, Ivan Stevic, Jose Manuel-Garcia, Justin England, Sean Sullivan