Rasmussen returned to racing

Michael Rasmussen returned to racing yesterday at a Criterium in the Danish city of Charlottenlund. About 20.000 spectators cheered his name and applauded. Rasmussen was racing in a yellow jersey and Danish media reported that some of the spectators wore yellow t-shirts with "the real Tour winner 2007" written on it. It was the first race for Rasmussen after he was excluded from this years Tour de France and sacked by the Rabobank squad. Earlier this week Rabobank manager Theo De Rooij stepped down and team sponsor Rabobank installed a commission to investigate the Rasmussen case.

Rasmussen is keeping himself in shape and is looking for a new team. "I'm juggling a few options, and we'll see what happens. I hope this is a new beginning," Rasmussen said.

Rasmussen was leading the race for most of the time, but the former Rabobank rider was caught by the chasing bunch in the final part of the race. The criterium was won by CSC's Nicki Sörensen. Rasmussen finished with the peloton.

Dominguez took Hanes Park Classic Criterium

Ivan Dominguez made it look easy Sunday in winning the Hanes Park Classic Criterium Sunday in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Fewer than 24 hours after the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team sprint specialist said he felt less-than-100 percent in the Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium in Charlotte, Dominguez resembled a rocket sled on rails in the final 250 meters.

He was third coming out of the final corner, but quickly made up the gap on the slightly uphill finish and had time to freewheel to the line ahead of second-place finisher Jeff Hopkins (Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team) and Cleber Ramos de Silva (Flying Horse/Caloi/A.A Meto-dista/SB do Campo), who was third.

“Two laps into the race, I told the guys to keep things together because I had good legs,” Dominguez said. “Yesterday, I was feeling heavy with no speed.”

Following Dominguez’s instructions to the letter, Toyota-United made sure no one was able to dangle more than a few seconds off the front of the peloton for any extended period of time. The oppressive heat – temperatures were in the mid 90s with high humidity – also helped keep things under control.

“It became a race of attrition,” Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Wil-lett said. “Someone would get away, but then they would go into the red zone. When you make a big effort in the heat, you basically shut down.”

Toyota-United kept Dominguez cool by having Ryan Miller, Justin England and Heath Blackgrove do the work whenever a rider threatened to break away. With the laps counting down, Chris Wherry and Jose Manuel “Chepe” Garcia took over, keeping the pace high to ensure a field sprint.

Dominguez said he sat comfortably on the wheel of Karl Menzies (Health Net presented by Maxxis) on the final trips around the 1.3-mile (2.0 km) tree-lined circuit around a historic park in Winston-Salem’s West End. Menzies had finished fifth Saturday night in Charlotte while Dominguez failed to crack the top 10.

“Once in a while, I’m going to have a bad day,” Dominguez said. “Unfortunately, it was last night. It wasn’t supposed to be like that because I was feeling good the whole week.”

As the bell sounded to signal the final lap, more than 100 riders remained in contention, spread five-abreast across the front. Shadowing Menzies, Dominguez moved up to third wheel between the second-to-last and final corner, then powered through to score his 11th win of the season and the team’s 12th in an NRC race.

The win was particularly satisfying for Toyota-United, as it marked the final race for Team Director Kirk Willett. The 37-year-old former professional racer is headed to medical school.

“I told him to take that as a present,” Dominguez said. “I have been really happy to work with him this season. He’s always very easy-going and he doesn’t put pressure on you. He would just tell us what we needed to do.”

Willett said it was good to finish the weekend on a winning note following the loss of Caleb Manion to a broken collarbone in a crash Saturday night.

“It’s always exciting to win and it’s a little extra nice since it is my last race,” Willett said. “I’m happy the guys came out with the win after the loss of Caleb and the lows we had Saturday night.”

New-Look Stevic Waiting For News On His Return
Toyota-United’s Ivan Stevic finds out from a doctor later this week whether he will be able to return to racing after more than a month rehabilitating sore knees.

When he does get back on the bike – possibly as soon as this weekend’s Alexian Brothers Tour of Elk Grove in Illinois – he will sport a decidedly different look.

Instead of his all-white Serbian national champion uniform, Stevic has earned the honor of wearing a special blue-and-rainbow-striped jersey by finishing first in the 100-mile (161 km) B World Road Race Championship in Cape Town, South Africa on July 1.

The UCI B World Championships are staged to create an opportunity for those nations where cycling is not considered to be a major sport to qualify riders and teams for the Olympic Games.

By virtue of his 40-second win over Namibia’s Erik Hoffman, Stevic has qualified to ride the road race for Serbia in Beijing in 2008.

The blue-with-rainbow-stripes jersey is one not often seen. It is worn by both the UCI “B” and masters world champions.

The last rider before Stevic to have earned the jersey, Murilo Fischer, did not wear it. He spent the 2004 season with Domina Vacanze – which already had the reigning world road race champion (Mario Cipollini) in its ranks that season. That might explain why Fischer never sported his special jersey.

Vogels Counts The Days Until Crucial X-Rays
He may not be racing – or even riding – his bicycle, but Toyota-United’s Henk Vogels is still very much in tune with what is going on with the team.

Vogels is recovering from an impact with a pole during a race last month that broke the glenoid bone in his shoulder. While he sits out a mini-mum of eight weeks, the Australian veteran pro has stayed in close communication with his teammates. He is also counting the days until a crucial X-ray.

“In two weeks time (Aug. 20), they (doctors) will tell me whether it is healed or not,” Vogels said Sunday from his home in Boulder, Colo.

In the meantime, Vogels hopes to be able to start riding his bike on an indoor trainer to try and regain some of his fitness.

With teammate Caleb Manion lost for the season with a broken collarbone, Vogels’ return could figure prominently into Toyota-United contending for the National Race Calendar series team title.

Pan-Mass Challenge Memorable For Toyota-United
The Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team’s commitment to charitable endeavors continued over the weekend with the team’s participation in the 28th annual Pan-Mass Challenge. The two-day recreational ride is a fundraising event to raise money to find a cure for cancer.

Bobby Lea and Stefano Barberi were among 5,000 bicyclists who pedaled several Pan-Mass routes Saturday and Sunday.

This year’s goal was to raise $27 million. The PMC is the nation’s most successful charity bike ride, with 99 cents of every dollar going directly to The Jimmy Fund for cancer research.