Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 2007

Boise, Idaho — Ivan Dominguez of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team scored his 10th victory of the season Saturday night by easily sprinting to victory at the end of a blazingly fast edition of the Wells Fargo Twilight Criterium in Boise, Idaho.

In front of a crowd estimated at more than 20,000, Dominguez used a perfect lead-out to take the lead before the final corner and hold off second-place finisher Ricardo Escuela (Successful Living Presented by Parkpre) and Jeffery Hopkins (Jittery Joe’s Professional Cycling Team). The 80-lap race was completed at an average speed of 30 miles an hour.

“There were so many primes that guys never got a break,” Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett said. “Once in a while someone would go off the front, but they never got more than a few seconds ahead before they were reeled back in.”

With Toyota-United’s usual lead-out specialist, Henk Vogels, sitting out due to injury, it was left up to another Australian, Caleb Manion, to get Dominguez into position for the final sprint. Manion was the caboose on the Toyota-United lead-out train of Bobby Lea, Ryan Miller, Burke Swindlehurst, Heath Blackgrove and Jose Manuel “Chepe” Garcia.

“Those guys got Caleb all the way through to the halfway point of the last lap,” Willett said. “From there, Caleb took Ivan pretty close to the last corner and Ivan took it from there.”

Willett said he was confident Manion could deliver.

“It’s a little bit different role for him, but he’s always been one of the strongest guys and he is just as strong as a true sprinter,” Willett said. “All of our guys stepped up tonight. For instance, Burke (Swindlehurst) is not a criterium guy, but he was on the front from the first lap.”

The victory is the 28th of the season for Toyota-United and Dominguez’s sixth at a National Race Calendar event. It also provides valuable points in the battle with Health Net presented by Maxxis for the NRC team title.

Dominguez, Blackgrove, Lea and Swindlehurst now head to Pennsylvania to compete in the International Tour de Toona, a race that runs Monday through July 29.

Labels: Ivan Dominguez, Kirk Willett

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

Toyota-United's Chris Wherry gets ready to begin his race against the clock.
Bend, Ore. - Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team's Chris Baldwin didn't even
get to enjoy his time in the yellow jersey Friday at the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Clasic.

The race's overall leader after Stage 2, Baldwin lost the jersey by finishing second to Phil Zajicek (Navigators Insurance Pro Cycling) in the first of two stages on the day, a 15-mile (24.1 km) time trial.

Because the yellow leader's jersey is not a skinsuit, Baldwin wore his conventional Toyota-United team "kit" for the race against the clock. Zajicek will be presented with his yellow jersey prior to Friday night's criterium in Downtown Bend.

Labels: Chris Baldwin, 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

Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett has either raced in, or served as a team director, at the Cascade Classic all but one year since 1990. (He even competed in the Masters 35+ division last year.) With that in mind, here is his stage-by-stage assessment of this year’s five-day, six-stage National Race Calendar event that runs in and around Bend, Ore.

Wednesday, July 11
Stage 1: Ironhorse-Brooks Resources Prineville Road Race
91.2 miles (146.7 km)
“This is actually a deceptively hard stage. Two things have traditionally happened: either a breakaway has gotten away and held off the rest of the field or a good-sized group has come to the foot of the mile-long climb up Pilot Butte and it becomes a sprint from there. It is supposed to be close to 100 degrees, too, so that will make this race even more difficult. There is also one good climb about two-thirds of the way through the race and if the wind is just right – a crosswind – that climb never ends because you’re in echelons all the way into town, then it’s up Pilot Butte at the end.”

Thursday, July 12
Stage 2: Meridian Realty McKenzie Pass Road Race
79.5 miles (127.9 km)
“This is a rolling stage until about the last 10 kilometers when it climbs up McKenzie Pass. It is never steeper than five percent but it’s hard enough that the non-climbers will be eliminated. Still, for the top 10 to 15 riders, it is unlikely to be a decisive stage.”

Friday, July 13
Stage 3: Bend Research, Inc. – Skyliners Time Trial
15 miles (24.1 km)
“This stage – and Saturday’s race – are the really important ones. It’s uphill all the way out and downhill all the way back. That’s where the top 15 guys in the race are going to be separated by big chunks of time. You’re going to have to ride a great time trial in order to win the race overall.”

Friday, July 13
Stage 4: Desert Orthopedics/Rebound Physical Therapy Criterium
90 minutes
“We’re the defending champions on this course so hopefully we’ll be able to set up Ivan Dominguez to have a good sprint. This is a really special race with it being at twilight and always in front of a large crowd. If a team can control the front, it takes a pretty special rider to come around a lead-out train on this course.”

Saturday, July 14
Stage 5: Pacific Power Cascade Lakes Road Race
92.4 miles (148.7 km)
“This stage has the most difficult uphill finish of this year’s race. It’s not quite as steep as Pilot Butte, but on the fourth day of racing and at a higher elevation (almost 6,500 feet), it’s about a 5 km climb that really separates the top riders. You won’t see 10 guys coming into the finish together. There will likely be groups of two or three. And thought the time gaps between them won’t be huge, there will be solid separation.”

Sunday, July 15
Stage 6: Deschutes Brewery Awbrey Butte Circuit Race
80 miles (128.7 km)
“This circuit race is hard. A lot of times if a strong team has the general classification lead, it can be controlled fairly well. But if a strong team does not have the lead, this course is hard enough that you’ll see a lot of splits. There are also multiple time bonus sprints on this stage so that adds a little extra tactical twist to the entire week. If there are four or five guys within 20 seconds and a team has a guy who can sprint well, he can come from behind and win.”

Labels: Kirk Willett

Toyota-United's Chris Baldwin (left) was second
to Nathan O'Neil (center). Scott Moninger was third.
Silver City, N.M. - Chris Baldwin of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team didn’t successfully defend his title at 21st edition of the Ben D. Altamirano Tour of the Gila. But you wouldn’t have known it by the smile on his face after Sunday’s final stage.

“I lost to a far superior rider,” Baldwin said after finishing second overall to Nathan O'Neil (Health Net presented by Maxxis). “We took some shots at him, but he certainly earned the win. I'm pretty pleased, though. I feel like I haven't gotten many results this spring, so I'm happy with my result.”

Baldwin finished the five-stage, 339.1-mile (545.7 km) National Race Calendar event one minute and 42 seconds behind O’Neil’s winning time of 13 hours, 58 minutes and 43 seconds. Over five days of racing, Baldwin finished third in the opening time trial Wednesday, third in the Stage 2 Silver City to Mogollon Road Race and third in Sunday’s Stage 5 Gila Monster Road Race.

“It was pretty hard to make much happen today,” Baldwin said of the 105.7-mile (170.2 km) final stage that featured more than 9,000 feet of climbing. “It was a big blow not having Burke (Swindlehurst) today. He's really, really good at riding this stage.”

Swindlehurst, a three-time Tour of the Gila champion (1996, 1998 and 2005) did not start Saturday’s Stage 4 criterium after coming down with a 24-hour stomach flu after Friday’s Stage 3 Inner Loop Road Race.

“He (Burke) is doing better now, but we really felt his absence,” Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett said. “It's hard when you're down to three climbers on a stage like this because all three have to have a good day.”

While Toyota-United successfully defending Baldwin’s second place overall, it was unable to hold onto its lead in the team classification. Justin England finished 10th Sunday and wound up eighth overall, 4:32 behind the winning time. But teammate Stefano Barberi, who was eighth overall heading into the final stage, had the misfortune of getting a flat tire midway through Sunday’s race.

“We got him back on and he fought real well to be our third guy on the road,” Willett said. “It’s too bad he had to overcome that flat tire, though. It took a little a bit of wind out of his sails.”

Barberi ended up crossing the finish line with a group that arrived more than eight minutes after stage winner Scott Moninger (BMC Pro Cycling Team). That dropped the Brazilian to 15th overall, 12:07 behind O’Neil.

Toyota-United’s other remaining riders, Ivan Stevic and Jose Manuel-Garcia, did not finish the final stage. Stevic spent more than 150 kilometers riding in breakaways on Stages 2 and 3 (finishing third on Stage 3) and placed fifth in Saturday’s Stage 4 Downtown Silver City Criterium.

“They both did a great job of supporting the other guys on the first half of Sunday’s stage,” Willett said. “Once you get dropped on a stage like this, you’re done unless you’re still in contention. Since both of those guys are doing the Joe Martin Stage Race next week, it’s wise that they saved their legs.”

Labels: Chris Baldwin, Justin England, Kirk Willett

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

Bayard, N.M. – The Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team garnered its third consecutive podium finish at the Tour of the Gila when Ivan Stevic finished third on the Inner Loop Road Race Friday.

Stevic was part of a four-man breakaway that escaped a shattered peloton approximately halfway through the 80-mile (129.6 km) race. A concerted attack from the gun by Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle decimated the field down to 18 riders, from which Stevic, Tom Peterson (Team Slipstream), Nick Resitad (Jelly Belly Cycling Team) and David Salomon (P&S-Halcones) eventually powered away to build a maximum lead of three minutes.

That advantage evaporated quickly in the closing miles, though, but the quartet managed to hold off the fast-charging field. Peterson took the win on a flat tire, ahead of Resitad and Stevic (pictured at far left), respectively.

Toyota-United’s other finishers in the lead group were Chris Baldwin (third-place finisher on Stages 1 and 2), who was eighth, Justin England (13th), Burke Swindlehurst (17th) and Stefano Barberi (26th).

For Stevic, it was the second consecutive day he found himself part of a long breakaway.

“I’d say he has spent close to 240 km (150 miles) riding on the front,” Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett. “He’s got a nose for getting into breaks. He’s always good at finding himself in the right one. He’s got the punch to jump across when it looks like it’s going to work.”

Feeling the exhaustion afterwards, Stevic was a man of few words.

“I wasn’t necessarily going to be in a break, but it was good for the team,” the Serbian national champion said. “They didn’t have to work at all.”

With the overall standings remaining relatively unchanged, Toyota-United maintained its lead in the team classification. In the individual classification, Baldwin is second, 1:59 behind of overall leader Nathan O’Neil (Health Net presented by Maxxis). Three other Toyota-United riders are in the top 11 overall: Stefano Barberi (8th, 3:43 behind), Burke Swindlehurst (9th, 3:45 behind) and Justin England (11th, 3:56 behind). Prior to Friday’s stage, race officials corrected Barberi’s placing on Stage 2, which moved him up from 12th place to eighth overall.

The penultimate stage of the five-day, five-stage event is Saturday’s Downtown Silver City Criterium, a 43.2-mile (69.7 km) race around a 1.08-mile (1.73 km) relatively flat rectangle.

Labels: Burke Swindlehurst, Chris Baldwin, Ivan Stevic, Justin England, Kirk Willett

Henk Vogels (left) and Stefano Barberi round a corner.
Merced, Calif. – The Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team put Ivan Dominguez back on the podium a day after he won the Downtown Grand Prix.

Dominguez finished third behind Karl Menzies and Russel Downing (both of HealthNet presented by Maxxis) in the 120-mile (193.1 km) Merco Credit Union Foothills Road Race.

“It got pretty wild in the sprint,” Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett said. “You had a lot of guys who had never touched the front all day, so they had fresh legs.”

With 60 kilometers to go, Toyota-United worked hard to bring back three riders who had gained a four-minute lead. Jose Manuel Garcia, Burke Swindlehurst and Stefano Barberi led the chase, which caught the trio less than three miles from the finish line.

From there, riders began attacking, forcing Toyota-United to chase again.

“It was going great until we reached a couple of 90 degree turns in the final kilometers,” Willett said. “Our guys kind of got swarmed and boxed in with about 500 meters to go. Dominguez went hard on his own from about 400 meters, but the two HealthNet riders had attacked up the other side of the road and gained quite a gap.”

14th Annual MERCO Cycling Classic Foothills Road Race
Merced, Calif. Saturday, March 4, 2007:
1. Karl Menzies, HealthHet presented by Maxxis
2. Russel Downing, HealthNet presented by Maxxis
3. Ivan Dominguez, Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team
4. Ben Jacques-Maynes, Priority Health
5. Shawn Milne, HealthNet presented by Maxxis
6. Ivan Stevic, Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team
7. Dominique Rollin, Kodak Gallery presented by Sierra Nevada
8. Dusan Ganic, Successful Living.com presented by Parkpre USA
9. Andy Jacques-Maynes, Priority Health
10. Luca Damiana, Colavita-Sutter Home

Labels: Ivan Dominguez, Kirk Willett, road race