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Hincapie tops in Missouri as Dominguez wins finale
Ivan Dominguez put an emphatic stamp on his run to the Tour of Missouri's sprint points title, winning the final stage of this 562.2-mile, six-day race, which concluded Sunday in downtown St. Louis.
Dominguez (Toyota-United) emerged from a scrambled sprint along Market Street, comfortably holding off Andrew Pinfold (Symmetrics) and Dominique Rollin (KodakGallery-Sierra Nevada), who were second and third in the 74.2-mile, seven-lap circuit race.
“From the last turn it was 500 meters to finish going downhill,” explained Dominguez. “I was 15-20 places behind, sitting on [teammate Chris] Wherry’s wheel. He was trying to follow [Health Net’s] Karl Menzies. I got to the front of the group, then I sat down because I saw fast guys all around me and thought if I keep going they will pass me, so I sat down and then I got going and started again.”
The win moved Dominguez out of a points-chase tie with Rollin, who had jumped from third to first earlier in the day by grabbing first-place points in the first of three intermediate sprints. The Canadian also moved from fourth to third overall in the general classification, nudging David Cañada (Prodir-Saunier Duval) off the final podium. Rollin came into Sunday's race with a one-second deficit to the Spaniard, but earned bonus time during the stage and at the finish line.
“It’s been a great week,” said Rollin, who was visibly choked up at the post-race press conference. “The team did great work to get me to the first intermediate sprint.”
American George Hincapie stood atop the final podium in Missouri. After winning stage 2 into Springfield and taking over the race lead, the Discovery Channel rider consolidated his advantage during stage 3's time trial, then rode smartly on the final three days to secure a 1:38 win over second-placed Will Frischkorn (Slipstream) with Rollin third at 2:09.
The Tour of Missouri marked Discovery Channel's final appearance on American soil. Following a failed bid to find a replacement sponsor when the cable TV company opted not to renew its sponsorship contract, the team is disbanding at the end of the 2007 race season. Hincapie has signed a contract with T-Mobile for 2008.
After the race all eight Discovery riders, including Tour de France champion Alberto Contador and U.S. national champ Levi Leipheimer, plus team boss Johan Bruyneel were called up on stage and showered with applause.
“Johan brought a great team, in part because it was the last race for us in the U.S.,” said Hincapie. “It worked out for me. I got into a great breakaway and just had to ride a good TT. Having guys like Levi and Contador working for me was really special. I’ll definitely miss those guys in the next couple of years.”
Sunday's racing kicked off at 1 p.m. deep inside the largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It was a busy sports day in St. Louis with the Rams playing a home football game against the San Francisco 49ers, and baseball's Cardinals hosting the Chicago Cubs. Both the home teams lost, but if crowd response was any indicator, the city got a win in the bike-race department. Enthusiastic fans lined most of the 10.6-mile course, and many hung around after the race to check out the awards ceremony held in front of the city's historic Union Station building.
The day's drama began in earnest on the second of seven laps when Rollin took top points ahead of Cañada and Dominguez at the first intermediate sprint. That created a pair of virtual ties -- one between Rollin and Cañada for third in GC, another between Rollin and Dominguez in the points chase.
Rollin would have gone 1-for-2 in tiebreakers had they held up, losing the points, but taking over 3rd on GC. But the finish results made the tiebreak rules moot.
Former points leader and stage-4 winner Luciano Pagliarini (Prodir-Saunier Duval) didn't figure in any of the sprints, falling to third in the final standings after finishing seventh in the stage.
"Today was a lottery. It came down to luck," the Brazilian said. "Dominguez had a team and I didn't."
The middle of the stage was dominated by a four-rider breakaway that included Jeremy Venell (DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed), Fausto Marcelino (Tecos), Bernard Van Ulden (Navigators) and Tyler Wren (Colavita-Sutter Home). The quartet stayed away until the final lap, with a stubborn Van Ulden the last rider chased down by a fast-moving field.
Van Ulden did manage to grab top points in the final intermediate sprint, which included a small prime of cash culled from crowd donations. Unless something changes, that prime represents the final prize awarded to Navigators, which lost its title sponsor and will not be back in 2008. Team manager Ed Beamon said he originally planned to bring a team to Australia's Sun Tour, but may reconsider because several of his riders are battling injuries and illness.
“It was our team plan to make it in a breakaway today, and when I saw that group go it was my turn,” explained Van Ulden. “After I took the third intermediate sprint for the cash, I noticed the other guys were tiring a bit. It took them a few seconds to get back on my wheel, and I figured I'd just give it a go and time trial as long as I could. I didn't think it would work, but I wanted to get out there and give a good show.
“Our team is definitely changing next year, and today was sort of a thank you to Ed Beamon, who gave me my first pro contract and helped my dream of being a pro come true.”
After Van Ulden's cash grab, the sprinters' teams moved up with Prodir, Toyota-United, Health Net and Slipstream all making appearances on the front during the final lap. Slipstream was hoping to set up Brad Huff, but instead saw the Missouri native crash within the final 500 meters when he bumped bars with Rollin and then slammed into the barrier. Huff stayed on the ground for a few minutes, sending a scare through the finish-line crowd. But he was only shaken up and managed to walk away.
It was one of the few low points for Slipstream at the Tour of Missouri. Besides Frischkorn's second place on GC, the team that will attempt to fill the Discovery void was fifth on GC (Mike Friedman), first in the Best Young Rider competition (Steven Cozza), had the stage-5 winner (Danny Pate), and was first in the team classification, 13:43 ahead of second-placed Discovery.
“Both for Slipstream and me personally it’s been a great week,” said Frischkorn, whose status for 2008 is still uncertain. “It’s been great experience. I think it shows that we are ready to take the spot that Discovery is relinquishing. This second-place finish is probably my biggest result of my career. It’s been a long time coming and feels like I’m hitting my stride.”
Back at the front, Dominguez avoided the pitfalls that took Huff down, shooting across the line with hands high in the air to win in 2:37:13. The triumph made Toyota-United the only domestic team to win stages in all three of the American grand tours, California, Georgia and Missouri.
Discovery Channel swept those same three races, with Leipheimer winning the Tour of California, Janez Brajkovic winning Georgia, and Hincapie completing the trifecta here in Missouri.
“It’s tough to rank this win, but this being the last race as the Discovery Channel team makes it stand out,” said Hincapie. “Having Contador and Levi working for me makes it that much more special.”
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2007 Tour of Missouri
Winner: George Hincapie, Discovery Channel
Points: Ivan Dominguez (Cub), Toyota-United
Mountains: Jeff Louder, Health Net-Maxxis
Best young rider: Steven Cozza, Slipstream-Chipotle
Team: Slipstream-Chipotle
Most aggressive: John Parr, Tecos
Stage 6 results
1. Ivan Dominguez (Cub), Toyota-United, 2:37:13
2. Andrew Pinfold (Can), Symmetrics, same time
3. Dominique Rollin (Can), KodakGallery-Sierra Nevada, s.t.
4. Charles Dionne (Can), Colavita-Sutter Home-Cooking Light, s.t.
5. Karl Menzies (Aus), Health Net-Maxxis, s.t.
6. Sebastian Frey (G), Team Sparkasse, at 0:01
7. Luciano Pagliarini (Bra), Prodir-Saunier Duval, s.t.
8. Frank Pipp (USA), Health Net-Maxxis, s.t.
9. Sergey Lagutin (Uzb), Navigators Insurance, s.t.
10. Davide Frattini (I), Colavita-Sutter Home-Cooking Light, s.t.
Final overall
1. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, 21:00:33
2. William Frischkorn (USA), Slipstream -Chipotle, at 1:38
3. Dominique Rollin (Can), KodakGallery-Sierra Nevada, at 2:09
4. David Cañada (Sp), Prodir-Saunier Duval, at 2:21
5. Michael Friedman (USA), Slipstream-Chipotle, at 2:46
6. Frank Pipp (USA), Health Net-Maxxis, at 2:51
7. Valeriy Kobzarenko (Ukr), Navigators Insurance, at 3:06
8. Andrew Randell (Can), Symmetrics, at 3:50
9. Stefan Parinussa (G), Team Sparkasse, at 4:26
10. Matthew Rice (Aus), Jelly Belly, at 6:16
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