Riding an early breakaway Sunday, Colombian Javier Zapata held onto the GC leader’s jersey to win the 2007 Tour of Virginia.

Zapata (Caico) came into the 100-mile stage 7 with just an eight-second lead over second-place Alejandro Borrajo (Rite Aid), but 40km into the race, Zapata latched on to a 10-man breakaway.

Borrajo did not, a problem his team attributed to a technological breakdown.

“We had problems with our radio and never got word that Zapata was in the break,” Rite Aid director Jonathan Wirsing said.

Showing no signs of slowing down, the breakaway stretched its lead to 2:45 halfway into the race. Coming into the finish city of Charlottesville, police escorts were to lead the breakaway group to a ceremonial one-mile circuit around the Downtown Mall.

However, the escorts led the group to the wrong street. The members of the breakaway ultimately rode a one-kilometer detour before being led back onto the correct streets.

In the meantime, the peloton made up a good amount of time on the race leaders. Officials made an on-the-fly decision to have racers not in the breakaway ride an extra lap around the circuit.

After the race, review of the time splits showed that the extra lap correctly restored order.

The breakaway group finished in a sprint, with Jesse Anthony (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada) taking first and Kayle Leogrande (Rock Racing) finishing second.

Zapata finished sixth, taking the same time as the race leaders. Borrajo, unable to catch the breakaway group, finished 26th, 2:15 behind Zapata.

Borrajo’s finish was enough to bump him off the podium to fourth overall, but he did unseat Australian Jonathan Cantwell (Kahala-La Grange) for the sprinter’s jersey.

University of Wisconsin sophomore Ryan Baumann (Abd Cycling) won the U-23 jersey, after holding it through five stages. The 19-year-old crashed early Sunday, but quickly worked his way back into the peloton.

“I have to credit my Trek bike for not breaking in the crash,” Baumann said.

left to right: Christopher Jones, Javier Zapata, Nathan Bowman

Photo: Nathan Beck

2007 TOUR OF VIRGINIA
Stage 7 (road race). April 29
1. Jesse Anthony, Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada, 100 miles in 3:13:11
2. Kayle Leogrande, Rock Racing
3. Graham Howard, Priority Health-Bissell
4. Marcos Rios, Kahala-La Grange
5. Dan Bowman, Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast
6. Javier Zapata, Caico
7. Christopher Jones, VMG Racing
8. Mark Walters, Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada, all s.t.
9. Eddy Hilger, Priority Health-Bissell, at 0:35
10. Mike Norton, Rite Aid, at 1:50Final standings, after 7 stages
1. Javier Zapata, Caico, in 18:54:18
2. Dan Bowman, Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast, at 1:04
3. Christopher Jones, VMG Racing, at 1:12
4. Alejandro Borrajo, Rite Aid Pro Cycling, at 2:23
5. Mark Walters, Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada, at 3:03
6. Mike Olheiser, Memphis Motorwerks-Carve, at 3:38
7. Alejandro Cortes, Caico, at 3:46
8. Daniel Vaillancourt, Colavita-Sutter Home, at 3:58
9. Andrew Guptil, Colavita-Sutter Home, at 4:16
10. Jake Rytlewski, Rite Aid Pro Cycling, at 5:01Jersey winnersGeneral classification: Javier Zapata, CaicoMountain classification: Javier Zapata, CaicoSprint classification: Alejandro Borrajo, Rite AidU-23 classification: Ryan Baumann, Abd Cycling