News

24th February 2007

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Flash News from the Tour of California by Brian C. Grenier

Today the sun was out, but so was the wind. As the riders left the start house the wind was raging at 19 mph! Again, as in days past, the Pro Tour teams dominated the top spots! 

The story of the day was of Jason McCartney of Discovery  Channel putting in an awesome time trial and for a short period had held the best time of the day on the wind swept course. 

Jason was only to be outdone by Jens Voigt from CSC and his own Discovery Channel team-mate who put on a show, Levi Leiphiemer, hammering around the course to build comfort to his General Classification lead with a ride of 00:29:40.

Only two men broke the 30 minute mark today!

[Check out the report and link to the full report below].

Leipheimer wins the stage to defend his lead the best way possible

Discovery Channel rider Levi Leipheimer defending his lead the only way he could...by winning the individual time trial in Solvang beating CSC rider Jens Voigt by 0'18".

The testing course produced a surprise third place in the shape of Jason McCartney from the Discovery Channel team. McCartney led for a time right up until the top two overall finished. First it was German rider Voigt who toppled McCartney and then his own team leader produced an even faster time to win the stage and push him down to third on the stage.

Now overall McCartney is in third place overall with Voigt second and Leimpheimer in first. But the big news is CSC who placed five riders in the top eight on the stage and now hold second, fourth, fifth and sixth overall. Over the next two stages before the race ends on Sunday the CSC team will attack at every available opportunity to put the Discovery Channel under serious pressure and test them to the maximum.

Speaking after the stage on team-csc.com Voigt said, "I might have been able to go four-five seconds faster by taking more chances in the turns, but that still would not have gotten me close to Leipheimer's time. He was simply faster than me and I have to accept that."

The race continues tomorrow with a 169.6 kilometer stage from Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita. Will CSC break Discovery's lead on the race? Only time will tell...

Click here to read the full results from stage 5 of the Tour of California...

Toyota-United's Ivan Dominguez & Sean Sullivan to join fight against heart disease at the Solvang Century Ride by press release

Los Angeles, CA, February 22, 2007: As part of the team’s commitment to promoting health and wellness, Toyota-United’s Ivan Dominguez and Sean Sullivan will join more than 5,000 recreational cyclists in the fight against heart disease at the annual Solvang Century Ride on Sunday, March 10th in Solvang, CA.

The ride, now in its 25th year, is the hallmark event of the SCOR Cardiac Cycling Club, a non-profit bike club started in 1974 to encourage bicycling as rehabilitative therapy after heart surgery, angioplasty and other forms of heart disease. All proceeds will benefit SCOR and heart-related projects, Camp del Corazon and Camp Bon Coeur.

“Toyota-United is thrilled to be participating in one of Solvang’s richest cycling traditions and ride for such an important cause,” says Team Owner, Sean Tucker who will be joining Dominguez and Sullivan on the 100-mile charity ride. “Heart disease is the number one killer in this country and by supporting the efforts of SCOR, we hope to educate people on the long-term health benefits of cycling.”

Throughout the 2007 cycling season, Toyota-United will be participating in a number of recreational rides across the country in support of a variety of wellness-related causes. Scheduled events include Bike New York in New York City on May 5th and Pan Mass Challenge in Boston on August 4th.

Alessandro Petacchi takes his stage win at the Algarve while Bernhard Eisel takes the lead overall

Unlike stage one Milram's Alessandro Petacchi crossed the line in first place and was not relegated. This time he won, beating Bernhard Eisel (T-Mobile) into second place with Discovery Channel rider Tomas Vaitkus third.

Even though Austrian rider Eisel didn't win the stage he still had the consolation of pulling on the leaders jersey, taking control of the overall from Belgian Steegmans from the Quick Step-Innergetic team who was given the win on stage one following Petacchi's relegation.

After the stage, speaking on team-milram.com, Petacchi said, "The stage was hardened by a climb when ten kilometres were still to go and a nervous finale. After the last climb I was in the main group with Fabio Sacchi and Marco Velo. Both did an extraordinary work on the last three kilometers, taking me to the 200 meters mark. Now I think my condition has returned to a high level."

The race continues tomorrow with a 187.2 kilometer stage from Vila Real de Santo António to Loulé, another stage that looks likely to be decided in a sprint finish and maybe another stage win for Italian Petacchi.

Click here to read the full results from stage 3 of the Volta ao Algarve...