Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 2007

The all-Toyota-United podium (from left): Henk Vogels, Ivan Dominguez, Ivan Stevic.
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.

Labels: Criterium, Dominguez, Stevic, Vogels

Fresno, Calif. – Henk Vogels won his first race in nearly four years Sunday when he captured the third and final stage of the Bentley’s Central Valley Classic Stage Race in Fresno, Calif.

Vogels easily won the field sprint at the end of the 80-minute Tower District Criterium to give Toyota-United its fifth victory of the season and its second in two weeks in a National Race Calendar event. Last year, Toyota-United won 24 NRC races and scored 55 victories overall.

“It was a big relief to be able to throw my hands in the air and finally get that monkey off my back,” Vogels said. “I’ve been pretty much working for other sprinters the past couple years so it was nice to get back in the winner’s circle.”

Vogels had not tasted victory since winning the Stage 1, 136-mile road race from Augusta to Macon in the inaugural Tour de Georgia on April 23, 2003. Later that year, he nearly died following a high speed crash in the third stage of the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic. Descending at more than 60 mph, Vogels made contact with a rider in front of him and crashed horrifically. He suffered severe head, spine, and ankle injuries and was unable to walk for more than two months.

“This is a huge win for Henk,” Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett said. “He’s had other top 10 finishes since his major accident, but to get to the top step of the podium after what he’s gone through is just a great day for him.”

Vogels’ win slightly overshadowed an outstanding performance by teammate Chris Baldwin, who finished third overall. Baldwin placed sixth in Friday’s opening 102-mile (163 km) road race and fifth in Saturday’s 16.5-mile (26.4 km) individual time trial. His time trial moved him into third place behind Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health Cycling Team) and Rory Sutherland (Health Net presented by Maxxis) heading into Sunday’s final stage, which had no effect on the final three places overall.

“I think justice was served,” Baldwin said. “The two strongest guys in the race got first and second.”

In addition to Baldwin, five other Toyota-United riders placed in the top 20 on the final general classification.

“The guys are riding really well,” Willett said. “We’re off to a great start. It’s a long season, but we need to chip away every week at our season-long goals.”

Unselfishness was the name of the game all weekend for Toyota-United as rider after rider sacrificed their own chances to help Baldwin – and later Vogels – succeed. In Friday’s road race, Jose Manuel “Chepe” Garcia, Chris Wherry, Burke Swindlehurst, Caleb Manion and Stefano Barberi each took turns chasing down breakaways.

But the spectacular teamwork was most evident in Sunday’s criterium. Several times, Manion covered breakaways up front while his Toyota-United teammates joined with Priority Health behind to make sure the race would end in a field sprint. When it came time for the final lap, Wherry ramped up the speed to string the peloton out into single file. Stevic took over the pacemaking with two corners to go and guided Vogels through the chicane that led into the finishing straight.

Vogels passed Stevic (who finished fifth himself) and won by enough of a margin that he had time to give the traditional two-arm victory salute. Vogels said he thought of something Stevic had said Saturday night as he crossed the finish line.

“I had mentioned to him (Stevic) that I had not won in three years and that I was very motivated for today’s race,” Vogels said. “The idea was to have him come around me in the last corner. But Ivan told me after the race that he sacrificed for me so I could win.”

Central Valley Classic, Stage 2, Tower District Criterium
80 minutes, Sunday, March 11, 2007:
1. Henk Vogels, Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team
2. Alejandro Acton Colavita/ Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light
3. Ricardo Escuela Successful Living.com P/B Parkpre
4. Russell Downing Health Net presented by Maxxis
5. Ivan Stevic, Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team
6. Kyle Wamsley, Navigators Insurance
7. Rory Sutherland, Health Net presented by Maxxis
8. Luca Damiana Colavita/ Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light
9. Cesar Grajales Jittery Joes
10. Josh Thornton Kodak Gallery P/B Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Labels: Baldwin, Criterium, Vogels

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

Labels: Criterium, Dominguez, NRC, Vogels