SAVANNAH, Ga. — As the riders lounged behind the Toyota-United team car not five minutes after Stage 1 Monday afternoon, team director Len Pettyjohn stepped into the semi-circle of folding chairs and gave the lads some atta-boys for a job well done.

The T-U riders had executed the team’s game plan to perfection throughout the day, then delivered sprinter Ivan Dominguez into the money position at the front of the bunch sprint to spring him to victory in the Tour de Georgia’s opening stage.

Tour of Missouri followers have seen this scene before. Dominguez won two stages in the inaugural ToM, the opening stage in Kansas City and the finishing stage in St. Louis.

“We kind of had it dialed in,” Pettyjohn said. “We had an idea how the stage would play out and we were trying to deliver Dominguez. But you can game plan all you want, the guys still have to ride the bike and do the job.”

The job came in two parts Monday. 

The first part involved Ivan Stevic bridging up to join the breakaway that finally got away with about 25 miles remaining in the 70.4 mile stage. Stevic joined Scott Nydam (BMC), Garrett Peltonen (Bissell), Christian Meier (Symmetrics), Bernard Van Ulden (Jelly Belly) and Frank Pipp (Health Net) in the select group.

With a team member in the break, the Toyota-United riders didn’t have to do any work at the front of the peloton in pulling back the break, which kept Dominguez’ lead-out riders fresh for the finish.

The second part was that lead out, with Stevic (back in the peloton after the break was reeled in), then Henk Vogels and finally Dominique Rollin pulling Dominguez to the front in the last 2K.

“With 2k to go, we had Stevics, Henk and Dominique … I was trying to keep it calm, not get everybody stretched out,” Dominguez said. “With 1K to go, Henk went.”

So did George Hincapie of High Road.

“Then Dominique had to go,” Dominguez said. “With 500 to go, he went to the right side (around Hincapie.”

“I just went,” said Rollin, who finished second in the Tour of Missouri last year and a stage at the Tour of California in February. “I started the sprint with him (Dominguez) on my wheel.”

Pulling Dominguez along.

“He go … real fast,” Dominguez said.

Rollin peeled off with 200 meters to go, and Dominguez sprinted across the line with Jelly Belly’s Nic Anderson in tow. Gerolsteiner’s Robert Forster was third.

Sanderson, who once raced with Davitamon Lotto, knew he was following the right guy. 

“I just jumped on the back wheel of Dominguez,” said Sanderson, who had been brought to the front too by his Jelly Belly teammates. 

“I knew he was there … the Jelly Belly guy,” Dominguez said with a laugh, motioning to Sanderson.

Dominguez seems to have a knack for winning big stages. He won 15 races last season, including the two stages in Missouri and another in California.”

“The guys were telling me, ‘You don’t win much, but when you win, you make sure everybody knows,’” Dominguez joked. “Yeah, right.”

Dominguez said the victory surprised him, mainly because he admittedly has had an up and down year and has not been “on form,” as they say in cycling.

“I am not 100 percent yet,” he said. “When I go to race, I never say I will win, especially not with these guys” in the deep Tour de Georgia field.

Pettyjohn, though, said there was an inkling on Sunday night that Dominguez might fly Monday.

“I asked him last night if he feels he has a shot,” Pettyjohn said. “He said, ‘You do your job. I’ll do mine.’ All you have to do is deliver the guy to the front, and he’ll do the rest.”

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