Toyota-United recap Commerce Bank International Championship

The Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team saw its two best opportunities to win Sunday’s Commerce Bank International Championship end in two different ways.

A late-race breakaway that included Toyota-United’s Caleb Manion and Ivan Stevic was chased down and caught on the final trip up the Manayunk Wall.

But the bigger blow came with the finish line in sight and four Toyota-United riders near the front of the pack. A collision nearly took down Henk Vogels and held up the others as CSC’s Juan Jose Haedo sprinted down the parkway for the victory.

Despite the misfortunes, Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen had many positives to point out after the 156-mile (251 km) race that was run in record time.
"The guys had a phenomenal race," Jansen said. "In all honesty, maybe a better race than last year. They didn’t make mistakes. "

"Stevic and Manion did what they had to do. They had to make moves in the final part of the race and that’s what they did. Everyone did their job."

Indeed, after Stevic crashed hard, he regained the field with the help of teammate Heath Blackgrove and rode straight through to a breakaway up the road that included Manion.

"When I saw Caleb, it was a beautiful day," Stevic said.

The group of 10 included two from the Navigators Insurance Cycling Team, two from the Symmetrics Cycling Team, one each from the two ProTour teams (T-Mobile and CSC), plus riders from Health Net presented by Maxxis and the BMC Professional Cycling team. The escapees’ lead grew to nearly 90 seconds before they were reeled back in through the combined chasing efforts of the Slipstream presented by Chipotle and Tecos de la Universidad teams.

"Everyone but Slipstream loved it," Manion said.

Toyota-United’s Chris Wherry, who won the race in 2005, also made his way into breakaway that gained more than a minute’s lead. But each time, like all the rest of the breakaways before and after that, it was reeled in.

But the most decisive blow to Toyota-United’s chances of improving on last year’s second-place finish by Ivan Dominguez came as Vogels was sitting in 10th place. A rider lost control as the final sprint began.

"It started on the left and came across four lanes of traffic to the right," Wherry said. "It actually hit Henk and he was sliding sideways but managed to pull out of it."

Vogels’ 13th-place finish was the best Toyota-United could manage. But it did not diminish Jansen’s spirits.
"I walked onto the bus with a smile on my face and told the guys they rode a fantastic race," he said.

How They Finished And What They Had To Say Afterwards

Henk Vogels, 13th, same time as winner
"With two laps ago, when we had Caleb (Manion) and Ivan (Stevic) in a move, I thought that was it. But the Slipstream and Tecos teams put a dozen riders on the front to chase us down."

Chris Wherry, 31st, same time as winner
"We got Henk in a good position but then the crash happened. It started on the left and came across four lanes of traffic to the right. It actually hit Henk and he was sliding sideways but managed to pull out of it."

Sean Sullivan, 34th, same time as winner
"We think we did everything right but Henk (Vogels), Chris (Wherry) and I got stuck behind the crash."

Ivan Stevic, 37th, same time as winner
"Two guys in front of me took a corner hard and just flew in the air. I hit the bike of one of them and went straight to the pavement with my head. I don’t know how I didn’t break my teeth because I didn’t even hit my helmet."

Caleb Manion, 52nd, 29 seconds behind
"When Ivan and I made the break, Navigators had their two best guys in it, CSC was in it and we were in it. Everyone but Slipstream liked it."

Heath Blackgrove, 110th, 5:10 behind
"I had to bring Stevic back after his crash. He took a bit of time to get up but luckily we were able to get back to the group. Then he went straight through to the breakaway from there."

Stefano Barberi, Did not finish
"From what I heard, usually a break goes on the second lap and then everyone sits up for awhile before they start racing with a couple laps to go. But not"today. It was 156 miles and we never let up. We were going hard the whole time.”

Jose Manuel “Chepe” Garcia, Did not finish
"I think it was harder than last year. The team was riding so well and then things happened. In the last kilometer Henk was in position. I’m not surprised JJ (Haedo) won. He’s a very good sprinter now that everybody knows about."

Notes From The Laptop
Burke Swindlehurst and his wife, Tiffany, are celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary today … Soigneurs Reed McCalvin and Joachim Schoonacker said, on average, each rider consumed the following during Sunday’s race: two to six bottles of water, eight bottles of energy drink, three to four energy bars, five energy gel packets and five or six sandwiches … Mechanic Shane Fedon said two riders, Caleb Manion and Ivan Stevic, suffered flat tires during the race … Henk Vogels was the subject of a front page story in Saturday’s Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper … Bobby Lea races his first track event of the season Friday.

Lucky Fan Wins Ride In Prius Team Car
Tony Manzo of Bristol, Penn., was the winner of Sunday’s “Golden Cowbell” promotion.

Manzo selected a specially-marked cowbell to earn a ride in the Toyota-United Prius team car during the race.

"I had no idea what was going on until I saw the inside of the bell and saw I got the golden bell," Manzo said. "I was blown away. This is awesome."

Manzo is an avid cyclist who rides for the new Bucks County Bicycle Company in Levittown, Penn.

"I would be remiss if I didn’t give shop owner Scott Wueschinski a shout out," Manzo said.

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Results

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