July 27/07 10:55 am - The International Tour de `Toona: Men Stage 4

Posted by Editoress on 07/27/07
 

The International Tour de `Toona Pennsylvania

Report courtesy Toyota United Pro Cycling Team

Ivan Dominguez of the Toyota United Pro Cycling Team won the field sprint for eighth place Thursday at the end of an aggressive Stage 4 that saw a breakaway group of seven threaten the stronghold Health Net by Maxxis has had on the overall race lead since the beginning of the International Tour de Å’Toona.

"When the break went up the road and got a sizeable lead, it became apparent Health Net wanted to give the lead away to a smaller team that wasn't a threat to win the race overall," Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said. "That's something we wanted to prevent in order to keep the pressure on them."

The result was a series of attacks by Toyota-United which ultimately whittled the breakaway's lead from four minutes with one 20-mile (32.1 km) circuit remaining down to two minutes and 12 minutes by the finish of the 60-mile (96.6 km) Exelon/Peceo/GMC Hollidaysburg Circuit Race. Michael Friedman (Team Slipstream Powered by Chipotle) won the stage ahead of Mark Walters (Kodakgallery.com/Sierra Nevada Pro Cycling) and Scott Nydam (BMC Racing Team).

Chris Wherry, one of five Toyota-United riders who is just 19 seconds off the overall lead of Health Net's Karl Menzies, said the breakaway played to Health Net's tactics because it contained no one who was a threat to win the race overall.

"And since it didn't have any Toyota-United or Navigators Insurance riders, they decided to let it go," Wherry said. "We started attacking them because we have guys who can threaten them on the overall. Eventually, they decided to get back on the front."

On paper, Friday's stage would appear to not be decisive. The 76.8-mile (123.6 km) Hoss's/Parson's/White Deer Run Martinsburg Circuit Race consists of four laps of a 19.2-mile (30.9 km) circuit that starts and finishes in Memorial Park in Martinsburg. But with eight different teams (besides Health Net) having a total of 25 riders within 71 seconds of the overall lead, Jansen said Health Net will likely be on the defensive again.

"There are a lot of people out there who only need a handful of seconds to win this stage race," he said. "They'll be going on the offensive and that that will make it harder for Health Net to control. They're going to have their hands full."

Stage 4 (July 26th): Hollidaysburg Circuit, 96.6 km