11th Tour De Suisse Feminin 1999

Main Page Stage 2, Thursday 23rd Sept , Eggiwil - Schallenberg BE - Eggiwil (108.75 km) Race Report (so far) from Anna Wilson: The Tour of Switzerland runs for 4 days from September 22nd to 25th. Immediately following the Tour is the Swiss World Cup on September 26th. The Tour is very well attended by cyclists from around the world because it falls at a perfect time before World Championships. I started the Swiss Tour with no intention of finishing. I am still second in the World Cup series, 18 points behind the lead. The Swiss World Cup is the final World Cup and so I wanted to give myself every chance of performing well in that race and winning the World Cup series. So I raced the first two days of the Swiss Tour and then pulled out to rest up for the World Cup race. On the first day of the tour we raced a 2.4 km individual time trial at midday and then at 3:30 we raced 9 laps of a 12km circuit with a 2 km climb each lap. Hanka Kupfernagel won the prologue, 5 seconds in front of second place. An incredible margin for so short a race. I finished in 4th place, Sara Carrigan and Margaret Hemsley were within one tenth of a second of each other in 23rd and 24th place, with Kristy Scrymgeour 43rd, Geraldine Denham 71st and Kym Shirley 115th. Tracey Gaudry is riding for the Ebly team in this tour and she finished 15th, while Juanita Feldhahn is riding for the Ebly Panevezys team and finished 63rd. In the afternoon stage Kym Shirley and Kristy Scrymgeour both experienced terrible stomach cramps and were forced to pull out of the race. Kym Shirley vomited several times and felt a lot better while Kristy couldn't bring it up and felt sick for a couple of days. Meanwhile, in the race, Elena Tchalykh, a Russian rider, attacked the bunch and went off on a solo mission. She rode for nearly 6 laps by herself and had a lead of 2 minutes 40 seconds at one point before being caught by the bunch. The final time up the climb, Zabirova and Longo put the hammer down and the bunch was whittled to 30 riders for the final sprint. Vera Hohlfield from Germany won the stage but Hanka Kupfernagel retained the overall lead. Tracey Gaudry finished with the front group while Juanita and I finished in the second group, 30 seconds behind. Sara Carrigan was a further 1:26 behind and Margaret Hemsley finished 13:26 behind the leaders. On day two we raced 5 laps of a 21km circuit which included about 8 kms of climbing each lap. I was racing with a 39x25 as my lowest gear and I used it a lot! Geraldine Denham was struck with the stomach bug before the race started and only managed 2 laps before she had to pull out. Sara Carrigan was very fatigued from yesterday's race and decided that it was better for her to pull out as well and rest for the World Cup. That left Margaret Hemsley and I in the race for the Australian team and Tracey and Juanita riding for their other teams. The difficulty of the circuit meant that there was not a lot of aggression early in the race. Hanka Kupfernagel soon pulled out of the race in the yellow jersey - saving herself for the World Cup. That left Lyne Bessette of Canada as the leader on the road. So the Canadians were very active keeping the bunch together for Lyne. At the end of the 4th lap, with one lap remaining I attacked and got away solo. I got 30 seconds before the next climb began. On the climb, a group of 11 riders caught me and I went over the top with them. Lyne Bessette was not in the bunch and so the riders were keen to keep the pace high. Rasa Polikevicuite attacked us and got a small lead. I managed to get across and Rasa and I had a 20 second lead as we turned the corner for the final 4 km climb to the finish. I experienced leg cramps and couldn't stay with Rasa on the climb. Zabirova came flying past me and I settled in to pedal to the finish nice and easy. As far as I could work out, Zabirova caught Rasa but Rasa still managed to outsprint her to win the stage. Lyne Bessette lost about a minute and so lost the tour lead to Zabirova. I have now pulled out of the tour and so Margaret Hemsley is our sole remaining rider for the Australian team. Tracey Gaudry is still in the top 20 overall and Juanita is about 40th overall. I think they will finish the tour. Cheers Anna Stage Report from Karen Kurreck: This was the hardest stage in any of the previous 4 Tours of Switzerland I've done! This race is almost seeming like the Tour Feminin - we always sleep in the same town, but we drive 2 - 2 1/2 hrs to the stages. We leave around 8:30am and return around 8:30pm. Stage 2 was 5 laps of a circuit with 1200ft of climbing per lap. The climb was about 2.5km and then a short flat section and another 3km or so of climbing. Then a long descent and back to the climb again! It really turned more into a race of attrition than anything tactical. Hanka was in the leaders jersey but pulled out after a lap or 2. The World Cup is on Sunday and this Tour ends Saturday so anyone who is focusing on the World Cup really can't finish and expect to do well. There will be plenty of fresh people coming in just for the World Cup. The first lap, Longo went to the front on the climb and set a pretty hard tempo. I figured she was going to make things really hard later. It turned out she crashed at the back of the pack on the climb a lap or 2 later. I heard she just tangled handlebars with someone. She stood on the side of the road a bit, chased for a lap and then called it quits. The climbs were basically just a steady hard tempo. The field strung out and every lap less people were able to chase back on the descent. My legs were feeling a bit sore right from the start. It was not a course to have dead legs on! With some suffering though, I was able to make the front split on the climbs each time. Going into the last lap, we were a group of 40 or so. Anna Wilson attacked on the flat section between the 2 climbs. Nobody really reacted and she had a pretty good gap going into the climb. THis meant the pace on the climb was upped a notch. Valentina Polkhanova was driving at the front and a group of 12-14 were clear by the top. Emily, Kim and I were in the next group of 15 or so. Everyone was pretty motivated to catch the front group and taking pulls so we were gaining all the time. Another group also caught us from behind adding power to the chase. The finish was at the top of the first part of the climb. Going into the bottom of it, we were only 200m or so behind the front group. Of course that group contained the strongest climbers! Kim, Vera Hohlfeld, myslf, Tracey Gaudry and Cindy Pieters broke clear from our group and at the top we were 50m off the front group. The last km to the finish was pretty flat and there was one last little short steep pitch right before it. On that last pitch, I just lost the wheels of the chase group. At the top, I was alone in the wind still 50m off the front group and with nothing left. The other 4 made it to the front group in the last km. I got caught by a Norwegian and Mirjam Melchers from behind and we finished just 10sec behind the front group. It was kind of frustrating - I just needed 1 more watt at the critical time! Meanwhile, on the last climb, Rasa Polikevichuite and Zulfia Zabirova broke away from the front group. Rasa took the stage and Zulfia took the leaders jersey. I dropped to 11th on GC and the 10 sec I lost were the difference between that and 3rd overall. Oh well, after the hillclimb TT tomorrow, I don't think 10sec will make much difference at all.   Results, Stage 2 - 108.75 km: 1 Rasa Polikeviciute (Lit) Panevezys Ebly 3.15.54 2 Sulfia Sabirowa (Rus) Russia 3 Yvonne Schnorf (Swi) Switzerland 0.27 4 Vera Hohlfeld (Ger) Team Teag Euregio 5 Barbara Heeb (Swi) Team Nuernberger-Emmi 6 Priska Doppmann (Swi) Switzerland 7 Jolanta Polikeviciute (Lit) Panevezys Ebly 8 Tatjana Stiaschkina (Ukr) Cicli Giha Ticino Mixte 9 Elisabeth Chevanne Brunel (Fra) Gs Omt-Lorina-Ad54 10 Nicole Brändli (Swi) Cicli Giha Ticino Mixte 11 Valentina Polkhanova (Rus) Russia 12 Anke Erlank (Rsa) Gs Omt-Lorina-Ad5 13 Cindy Pieters (Bel) Team Vlaanderen 2002 14 Kim Smith (Usa) Usa 15 Lenka Ilavska (Svk) Lokomotiva Presov 16 Geraldine Loewenguth (Fra) France 17 Meike De Bruin (Ho) Greenery Hawk Team 18 Tracy Gaudry (Aus) Ebly 19 Wencke Stensvold (Nor) Norway 0.37 20 Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Netherlands 21 Karen Kurreck (Usa) Usa 22 Gulnara Iwanowa (Rus) Russia 0.52 23 Valentina Guerassimova (Rus) Greenery Hawk Team 24 Chantal Daucourt (Swi) Switzerland 25 Laurence Restoin (Fra) Ebly 26 Solrunn Flataas (Nor) Norway 0.58 27 Bogumika Matusiak (Pol) Poland 28 Sigrid Corneo (Ita) S.C. Master Automazione 29 Magali Le Floc'h (Fra) France 30 Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Sweden 31 Marion Brauen (Swi) Switzerland 32 Lyne Bessette (Can) Canada 33 Susy Pryde (Nzl) Gs Omt-Lorina-Ad5 34 Karin Möbes (Swi) Gs Omt-Lorina-Ad54 35 Mari Holden (Usa) Cicli Giha Ticino Mixte 1.3 36 Marcia Eicher-Vouets (Sui) S.C. Master Automazione 37 Sann Lehtimäki (Fin) Greenery Hawk Team 38 Julie Young (Usa) Usa 39 Birgit Sollner(Ger) Team Nuernberger-Emmi 1.39 40 Emily Robbina (Usa) Usa 1.42 41 Juanita Feldhahn (Au) Panevezys Ebly 1.54 42 Bettina Schoke (Ger) Red Bull Frankfurt 2.14 43 Anna Wilson (Aus) Australia 2.51 44 Sandra Wampfler (Swi) Mazza - Tege 45 Alison Sydor (Can) Canada 46 Marie Höljer (Swe) Swden 47 Leigh Hobson (Can) Canada 48 Heidi Van De Vijver (Bel) Team Vlaanderen 2002 3.26 49 Judith Arndt (Ger) Red Bull Frankfurt 3.56 50 Tanja Hennes (Ger) Red Bull Frankfurt 51 Jacqueline Brabenetz (Ger) Team Teag Euregio 5.56 52 Karine Dalmais (Fra) Ebly 7.08 53 Olena Budowitskaja (Ukr) Cicli Giha Ticino Mixte 8.26 54 Chantal Beltmann (Ned) Netherlands 9.08 55 Annie Gariepy (Can) Canada 9.23 56 Elena Tchalykh (Rus) Russia 10.56 57 Karla Polivkova (Cze) Lokomotiva Presov 12.31 58 Vanja Vonckx (Bel) Team Vlaanderen 2002 59 Arenda Grimberg (Ned) Netherlands 60 Mandy Hampel (Ger) Team Teag Euregio 61 Cornelia Dreher (Ger) Team Teag Euregio 62 Sandra Rombouts (Ned) Netherlands 63 Kerstin Scheitle (Ger) Team Nuernberger-Emmi 64 Margaret Hemsley (Aus) Australia 65 Sandrine Marcuz (Fra) France 66 Madeleine Lindberg (Swe) Sweden 67 Elisabeth Emery (Usa) Cicli Giha Ticino Mixte 23.51 68 Karen Dunne (Usa) Usa 69 Marika Murer (Swi) Switzerland 25.01 70 Elfie Kunz (Swi) Team Nuernberger-Emmi 71 Katie Compton (Usa) Usa 26.23 72 Lensy Debboundt (Bel) Team Vlaanderen 2002 26.33 73 Mirella Van Melis (Ned) Netherlands 28.35 74 Miho Oki (Jap) Japan 75 Julie Pekarkova (Cze) Lokomotiva Presov 76 Ita Kryjanovskaia (Rus) Greenery Hawk Team 77 Erika Vjlunaite (Lit) Panevezys Ebly 78 Denise Baumann (Swi) Switzerland 79 Tina Liebig (Ger) Team Teag Euregio 80 Akemi Morimoto (Jap) Japan 81 Anke Wichmann (Ger) Red Bull Frankfurt 82 Ayumu Otsuka (Jap) Japan 83 Sari Saarelainen (Fin) Lokomotiva Presov 84 Cornelia Dreher (Ger) Red Bull Frankfurt 85 Irene Hostettler (Swi) Mazza - Tege 86 Jacinta Coleman (Nzl) Mazza - Tege 87 Kerry Hellmuth (Usa) S.C. Master Automazione 88 Sandra Missbach (Ger) Greenery Hawk Team 89 Ellen Wijnant (Bel) Team Vlaanderen 2002 90 Alena Barilova (Svk) Lokomotiva Presov 91 Dorota Czynszak (Pol) Poland 92 Chantal Gorostegui (Fr) Panevezys Ebly 93 Anne Samplonius (Can) Canada 94 Anja Albasini (Sui) Team Nuernberger-Emmi 95 Petra Rossner (Ger) Team Teag Euregio 96 Mirjam Senn (Swi) Gs Zollinger-Tigra 37.26 97 Marlene Stamm (Swi) Gs Zollinger-Tigra 38.07 98 Claudia Marietta (Ita) S.C. Master Automazione 38.19 99 Andrea Hug (Swi) Gs Zollinger-Tigra 100 Magali Pache (Sui) Gs Omt-Lorina-Ad5 101 Rita Marbutyte (Lit) Panevezys Ebly 102 Alexandrine Petitpierre (Swi) Gs Zollinger-Tigra Non Starters Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) Greenery Hawk Team Olga Khortova (rus) Russia Ruth Demeyer (Bel) Team Vlaanderen 2002 Clarissa Breuer (Ger) Team Nuernberger-Emmi Jorunn Kvalo (Nor) Norway Jeannie Longo (Fra) Ebly Malgorzata Wysocka (Pol) Poland Ulli Baumgartner (Aut) Poland Isabella Wieser (Aut) Poland Deirdre Demet (Usa) Cicli Giha Ticino Mixte Sara Carrigan (Aus) Australia Geraldine Denham (Aus) Australia Sylvia Riedle (Fra) France Susanne Lange (Ger) Red Bull Frankfurt General classification after Stage 2: 1 Sulfia Sabirowa (Rus) Russia 6.16.00 2 Rasa Polikeviciute (Lit) Panevezys Ebly 0.14 3 Barbara Heeb (Swi) Team Nuernberger-Emmi 0.26 4 Tracy Gaudry (Aus) Ebly 0.29 5 Nicole Brändli (Swi) Cicli Giha Ticino Mixte 0.30 6 Geraldine Loewenguth (Fra) France 0.31 7 Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Netherlands 0.32 8 Vera Hohlfeld (Ger) Team Teag Euregio 0.33 9 Jolanta Polikeviciute (Lit) Panevezys Ebly 0.33 10 Tatjana Stiaschkina (Ukr) Cicli Giha Ticino Mixte 0.33 11 Anke Erlank (Rsa) Gs Omt-Lorina-Ad5 0.34 12 Karen Kurreck (Usa) Usa 0.34 13 Priska Doppmann (Swi) Switzerland 0.35 14 Valentina Polkhanova (Rus) Russia 0.39 15 Elisabeth Chevanne Brunel (Fra) Gs Omt-Lorina-Ad54 0.42 16 Kim Smith (Usa) Usa 0.43 17 Lyne Bessette (Can) Canada 0.53 18 Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Sweden 0.55 19 Lenka Ilavska (Svk) Lokomotiva Presov 0.58 20 Gulnara Iwanowa (Rus) Russia 0.58 21 Valentina Guerassimova (Rus) Greenery Hawk Team 1.02 22 Yvonne Schnorf (Swi) Switzerland 1.02 23 Susy Pryde (Nzl) Gs Omt-Lorina-Ad5 1.04 24 Sigrid Corneo (Ita) S.C. Master Automazione 1.04 25 Chantal Daucourt (Swi) Switzerland 1.04 26 Meike De Bruin (Ho) Greenery Hawk Team 1.09 27 Cindy Pieters (Bel) Team Vlaanderen 2002 1.13 28 Wencke Stensvold (Nor) Norway 1.20 29 Karin Möbes (Swi) Gs Omt-Lorina-Ad54 1.28 30 Marion Brauen (Swi) Switzerland 1.33 31 Laurence Restoin (Fra) Ebly 1.35 32 Solrunn Flataas (Nor) Norway 1.35 33 Marcia Eicher-Vouets (Sui) S.C. Master Automazione 1.36 34 Bogumika Matusiak (Pol) Poland 1.39 35 Birgit Sollner(Ger) Team Nuernberger-Emmi 1.57 36 Mari Holden (Usa) Cicli Giha Ticino Mixte 2.02 37 Julie Young (Usa) Usa 2.08 38 Sann Lehtimäki (Fin) Greenery Hawk Team 2.13 39 Emily Robbina (Usa) Usa 2.18 40 Magali Le Floc'h (Fra) France 2.22 41 Juanita Feldhahn (Au) Panevezys Ebly 2.37 42 Alison Sydor (Can) Canada 3.10 43 Anna Wilson (Aus) Australia 3.16 44 Heidi Van De Vijver (Bel) Team Vlaanderen 2002 3.30 45 Sandra Wampfler (Swi) Mazza - Tege 3.33 46 Leigh Hobson (Can) Canada 3.33 47 Marie Höljer (Swe) Swden 3.34 48 Bettina Schoke (Ger) Red Bull Frankfurt 3.35 49 Chantal Beltmann (Ned) Netherlands 9.09 50 Karine Dalmais (Fra) Ebly 9.23 51 Annie Gariepy (Can) Canada 10.02 52 Elena Tchalykh (Rus) Russia 12.47 53 Madeleine Lindberg (Swe) Sweden 13.07 54 Arenda Grimberg (Ned) Netherlands 13.07 55 Sandra Rombouts (Ned) Netherlands 13.47 56 Vanja Vonckx (Bel) Team Vlaanderen 2002 13.50 57 Mandy Hampel (Ger) Team Teag Euregio 13.51 58 Tanja Hennes (Ger) Red Bull Frankfurt 13.53 59 Kerstin Scheitle (Ger) Team Nuernberger-Emmi 13.56 60 Sandrine Marcuz (Fra) France 14.10 61 Cornelia Dreher (Ger) Team Teag Euregio 14.45 62 Judith Arndt (Ger) Red Bull Frankfurt 22.00 63 Olena Budowitskaja (Ukr) Cicli Giha Ticino Mixte 22.16 64 Karla Polivkova (Cze) Lokomotiva Presov 22.22 65 Jacqueline Brabenetz (Ger) Team Teag Euregio 24.00 66 Elisabeth Emery (Usa) Cicli Giha Ticino Mixte 24.25 67 Margaret Hemsley (Aus) Australia 26.02 68 Marika Murer (Swi) Switzerland 27.18 69 Lensy Debboundt (Bel) Team Vlaanderen 2002 28.56 70 Tina Liebig (Ger) Team Teag Euregio 30.13 71 Kerry Hellmuth (Usa) S.C. Master Automazione 33.25 72 Elfie Kunz (Swi) Team Nuernberger-Emmi 37.21 73 Anne Samplonius (Can) Canada 40.53 74 Karen Dunne (Usa) Usa 41.33 75 Katie Compton (Usa) Usa 44.17 76 Ita Kryjanovskaia (Rus) Greenery Hawk Team 46.19 77 Miho Oki (Jap) Japan 46.20 78 Ayumu Otsuka (Jap) Japan 46.23 79 Sari Saarelainen (Fin) Lokomotiva Presov 46.24 80 Denise Baumann (Swi) Switzerland 46.24 81 Mirella Van Melis (Ned) Netherlands 46.25 82 Akemi Morimoto (Jap) Japan 46.27 83 Dorota Czynszak (Pol) Poland 46.28 84 Ellen Wijnant (Bel) Team Vlaanderen 2002 46.34 85 Erika Vjlunaite (Lit) Panevezys Ebly 46.35 86 Irene Hostettler (Swi) Mazza - Tege 46.38 87 Alena Barilova (Svk) Lokomotiva Presov 46.38 88 Anja Albasini (Sui) Team Nuernberger-Emmi 46.39 89 Cornelia Dreher (Ger) Red Bull Frankfurt 46.41 90 Chantal Gorostegui (Fr) Panevezys Ebly 46.41 91 Julie Pekarkova (Cze) Lokomotiva Presov 46.44 92 Anke Wichmann (Ger) Red Bull Frankfurt 46.49 93 Petra Rossner (Ger) Team Teag Euregio 46.49 94 Mirjam Senn (Swi) Gs Zollinger-Tigra 55.20 95 Magali Pache (Sui) Gs Omt-Lorina-Ad5 56.09 96 Claudia Marietta (Ita) S.C. Master Automazione 56.18 97 Rita Marbutyte (Lit) Panevezys Ebly 56.19 98 Marlene Stamm (Swi) Gs Zollinger-Tigra 1.00 99 Alexandrine Petitpierre (Swi) Gs Zollinger-Tigra 1.00 100 Sandra Missbach (Ger) Greenery Hawk Team 1.01 101 Andrea Hug (Swi) Gs Zollinger-Tigra 1.03 102 Jacinta Coleman (Nzl) Mazza - Tege 1.04 Mountains competition after Stage 2: 1 Lyne Bessette (Can) Canada 37 pts 2 Nicole Brändli (Swi) Cicli Giha Ticino Mixte 36 3 Elena Tchalykh (Rus) Russia 29 4 Rasa Polikeviciute (Lit) Panevezys Ebly 14 5 Tatjana Stiaschkina (Ukr) Cicli Giha Ticino Mixte 10 6 Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Sweden 6 7 Jeannie Longo (Fra) Ebly 5 8 Sandra Missbach (Ger) Greenery Hawk Team 4 9 Meike De Bruin (Ho) Greenery Hawk Team 4 10 Jolanta Polikeviciute (Lit) Panevezys Ebly 3 11 Valentina Polkhanova (Rus) Russia 3 12 Sulfia Sabirowa (Rus) Russia 2 13 Anna Wilson (Aus) Australia 2 14 Vera Hohlfeld (Ger) Team Teag Euregio 1 15 Gulnara Iwanowa (Rus) Russia 1 Sprints competition after Stage 2: 1 Elena Tchalykh (Rus) Russia 30 pts 2 Arenda Grimberg (Ned) Netherlands 11 3 Rasa Polikeviciute (Lit) Panevezys Ebly 10 4 Vera Hohlfeld (Ger) Team Teag Euregio 6 5 Gulnara Iwanowa (Rus) Russia 6 6 Bogumika Matusiak (Pol) Poland 5 7 Anna Wilson (Aus) Australia 4 8 Sulfia Sabirowa (Rus) Russia 3 9 Valentina Guerassimova (Rus) Greenery Hawk Team 3 10 Sigrid Corneo (Ita) S.C. Master Automazione 3 11 Alison Sydor (Can) Canada 3 12 Lyne Bessette (Can) Canada 2 13 Yvonne Schnorf (Swi) Switzerland 1 14 Meike De Bruin (Ho) Greenery Hawk Team 1 15 Leigh Hobson (Can) Canada 1 16 Anne Samplonius (Can) Canada 1