16th Tour de l'Aude - 2.9.1France, May 5-14, 2000Main Page Anna Wilson's report Results Previous stageStage 2a - May 7: Rieux-Minervois - Pic de Nore, 44kmLoewenguth surprisesThe morning stage of the Tour de l'Aude was just 44 kilometres long, but climbing all the way from Rieux-Minervois to the Pic de Nore. The predictions were that overnight leader, Petra Rossner (Saturn) was going to find it difficult to hold onto her jersey in this stage, and these proved correct. French rider Geraldine Loewenguth triumphed in the stage, although not without incident - a fall on the descent of the first climb saw her in trouble, but she was helped by teammates back to the leaders. On the second ascent - the Pic de Nore (1210 m) she managed to open up a one minute plus gap to the rest of the field, with the Ukraine's Tatiana Stiajkina finishing in second. Germany's Hanka Kupfernagel was third, just in front of a small group containing Van de Vijver, Feldhan, Camboulives (who helped Loewenguth before) and Pieters. The remainder of the field lost over three minutes to Loewenguth though. The French rider took over the leadership going into the afternoon's 66 kilometre stage from Pradelles-Cabardès to Rieux-Minervois. Anna Wilson's reportWell today was the day from hell for us. We faced two stages today - 44km in the morning with a hilltop finish on Pic de Nore and 66kms in the afternoon, more downhill than up. We were hoping that Lyne would experience more of the brilliant form that she had last year when she won this tour overall and would be able to climb to the top of the morning stage with the leaders. There wasn't a great deal we could do to help her achieve that but we were all ready to do what we could. The peloton was all together until we hit the first climb, at the 25km mark. The next two kilometres were incredibly steep and the bunch split. A group of 7 moved away together in the lead, including Hanka Kupfernagel, Heidi Van de Vijver, Stiajkina, Juanita Feldhahn, Geraldine Loewengeuth, Albine Camboulives and Boubnekova. By the top of the climb they had a one minute lead. From there it was only 17 kms to the finish of the stage and only 10kms to the start of the final climb. I caught Lyne on the descent and did my best to try and catch the 7 leaders with her on my wheel. I rode as hard as I could for the rest of the stage and I finished with Lyne, Miriam Melchers, Jolanta Polikevicuite and Meike de Bruin. We found out after the finish that the French girl Geraldine Loewengeuth had won by over a minute from the second rider - Stiajkina. Hanka Kupfernagel was a further 50 seconds back. Lyne and I finished 3 and a half minutes behind Geraldine. Big damage!! But the good news was that we had both finished in the top 10 - I was now 8th on GC and Lyne 10th and there was still plenty of racing left to go. Results1 Géraldine Loewenguth (Fra) France 1.39.21 2 Tatiana Stiajkina (Ukr) Ukraine 1.02 3 Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) Radteam Kupfernagel 1.50 4 Heidi Van De Vijver (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 1.51 5 Juanita Feldhahn (Aus) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 6 Aline Camboulives (Fra) France 7 Cindy Pieters (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 8 Jolanta Polikeviciute (Ltu) Lithuania 3.36 9 Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Netherlands 10 Lyne Bessette (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 11 Anna Wilson (Aus) Saturn Cycling Team 12 Meike De Bruijn (Ned) Radteam Kupfernagel 13 Madeleine Lindberg (Swe) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 4.06 14 Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 15 Maryline Salvetat (Fra) France 4.11 16 Svetlana Boubnenkova (Rus) Russia 4.30 17 Elisabeth Chevanne Brunel (Fra) France 18 Leigh Hobson (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 19 Sandy Espeseth (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 20 Cybil Di Guistini (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 4.36 21 Chantal Beltman (Ned) Netherlands 22 Magali Le Floc'h (Fra) France 23 Valentina Polkhanova (Rus) Russia 7.02 24 Yvonne Brunen (Ned) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 25 Laurence Restoin (Fra) France 7.06 26 Arenda Grimberg (Ned) Netherlands 7.46 27 Olga Slioussareva (Rus) Russia 9.08 28 Rasa Polikeviciute (Ltu) Lithuania 29 Diana Ziliute (Ltu) Lithuania 30 Vanessa Cheatley (NZl) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 31 Yuliya Murenka (Ukr) Ukraine 32 Kerstin Scheitle (Ger) Germany 33 Valetyna Karpenko (Ukr) Ukraine 34 Marianna Lorenzoni (Ita) Team Aliverti Immobilione 35 Tetyana Andrushchenko (Ukr) Ukraine 9.18 36 Deirdre Demet-Barry (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 37 Sanna Lehtimaki (Fin) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 38 Ghita Beltman (Ned) Netherlands 39 Annie Gariepy (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 40 Clara Hughes (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 41 Vera Hohlfeld (Ger) Germany 10.53 42 Zita Urbonaite (Ltu) Lithuania 11.11 43 Veronique Belleter (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 44 Vanja Vonckx (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 45 Kym Shirley (Aus) Saturn Cycling Team 46 Cindy Bauwens (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 47 Kristina Obrucova (Cze) Team Aliverti Immobilione 48 Marcia Eicher-Vouets (Swi) Master Team Carpe Diem 49 Zoulfia Zabirova (Rus) Russia 50 Daphny Van Den Brand (Ned) Radteam Kupfernagel 12.19 51 Angela Hillenga (Ned) Netherlands 12.52 52 Lada Kozlikova (Cze) Radteam Kupfernagel 13.07 53 Erika Vilunaite (Ltu) Lithuania 13.35 54 Jacqueline Brabenetz (Ger) Germany 13.36 55 Svetlana Samokhvalova (Rus) Russia 14.23 56 Nataliya Kachalka (Ukr) Ukraine 15.29 57 Rasa Mazeikyte (Ltu) Team Aliverti Immobilione 16.09 58 Goulnara Ivanova (Rus) Russia 16.34 59 Sandra Missbach (Ger) Radteam Kupfernagel 60 Sharon Van Essen (Ned) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 61 Leah Goldstein (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 62 Petra Rossner (Ger) Saturn Cycling Team 63 Judith Arndt (Ger) Germany 64 Ita Kryjanovskaïa (Rus) Radteam Kupfernagel 65 Claudia Marietta (Ita) Master Team Carpe Diem 66 Ina Teutenberg (Ger) Germany 67 Cornélia Dreher (Ger) Germany 68 Mirella Van Melis (Ned) Netherlands 69 Rita Narbutyte (Ltu) Lithuania 20.56 70 Rikka Olsen (Den) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 23.25 71 Nataliya Yuganiyk (Ukr) Ukraine 72 Tania Belvederesi (Ita) Master Team Carpe Diem 73 Samanta Loschi (Ita) Master Team Carpe Diem General classification after stage 2a: 1 Géraldine Loewenguth (Fra) France 5.13.28 2 Tatiana Stiajkina (Ukr) Ukraine 1.09 3 Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) Radteam Kupfernagel 1.45 4 Heidi Van De Vijver (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 2.03 5 Cindy Pieters (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 2.09 6 Aline Camboulives (Fra) France 2.12 7 Juanita Feldhahn (Aus) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 2.14 8 Anna Wilson (Aus) Saturn Cycling Team 3.40 9 Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Netherlands 3.48 10 Lyne Bessette (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 3.57 11 Jolanta Polikeviciute (Ltu) Lithuania 4.10 12 Meike De Bruijn (Ned) Radteam Kupfernagel 4.14 13 Madeleine Lindberg (Swe) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 4.19 14 Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 4.20 15 Maryline Salvetat (Fra) France 4.28 16 Sandy Espeseth (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 4.46 17 Elisabeth Chevanne Brunel (Fra) France 4.49 18 Svetlana Boubnenkova (Rus) Russia 4.50 19 Leigh Hobson (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 4.55 20 Cybil Di Guistini (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 4.55 21 Chantal Beltman (Ned) Netherlands 5.04 22 Magali Le Floc'h (Fra) France 5.09 23 Yvonne Brunen (Ned) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 7.23 24 Laurence Restoin (Fra) France 7.34 25 Valentina Polkhanova (Rus) Russia 7.36 26 Arenda Grimberg (Ned) Netherlands 8.02 27 Diana Ziliute (Ltu) Lithuania 9.13 28 Clara Hughes (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 9.13 29 Olga Slioussareva (Rus) Russia 9.18 30 Valetyna Karpenko (Ukr) Ukraine 9.27 31 Annie Gariepy (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 9.29 32 Yuliya Murenka (Ukr) Ukraine 9.30 33 Deirdre Demet-Barry (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 9.32 34 Kerstin Scheitle (Ger) Germany 9.33 35 Ghita Beltman (Ned) Netherlands 9.34 36 Vanessa Cheatley (NZl) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 9.38 37 Marianna Lorenzoni (Ita) Team Aliverti Immobilione 9.40 38 Tetyana Andrushchenko (Ukr) Ukraine 9.41 39 Sanna Lehtimaki (Fin) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 9.49 40 Rasa Polikeviciute (Ltu) Lithuania 9.54 41 Vera Hohlfeld (Ger) Germany 11.13 42 Marcia Eicher-Vouets (Swi) Master Team Carpe Diem 11.27 43 Zita Urbonaite (Ltu) Lithuania 11.29 44 Zoulfia Zabirova (Rus) Russia 11.34 45 Vanja Vonckx (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 11.34 46 Cindy Bauwens (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 11.37 47 Veronique Belleter (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 11.47 48 Kristina Obrucova (Cze) Team Aliverti Immobilione 11.50 49 Kym Shirley (Aus) Saturn Cycling Team 12.02 50 Daphny Van Den Brand (Ned) Radteam Kupfernagel 12.44 51 Lada Kozlikova (Cze) Radteam Kupfernagel 13.19 52 Angela Hillenga (Ned) Netherlands 13.22 53 Erika Vilunaite (Ltu) Lithuania 14.18 54 Jacqueline Brabenetz (Ger) Germany 14.43 55 Svetlana Samokhvalova (Rus) Russia 14.45 56 Nataliya Kachalka (Ukr) Ukraine 16.03 57 Petra Rossner (Ger) Saturn Cycling Team 16.25 58 Ina Teutenberg (Ger) Germany 16.38 59 Rasa Mazeikyte (Ltu) Team Aliverti Immobilione 16.38 60 Mirella Van Melis (Ned) Netherlands 16.53 61 Leah Goldstein (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 16.58 62 Goulnara Ivanova (Rus) Russia 17.07 63 Ita Kryjanovskaïa (Rus) Radteam Kupfernagel 17.09 64 Sharon Van Essen (Ned) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 17.16 65 Claudia Marietta (Ita) Master Team Carpe Diem 17.16 66 Sandra Missbach (Ger) Radteam Kupfernagel 17.23 67 Judith Arndt (Ger) Germany 17.40 68 Rita Narbutyte (Ltu) Lithuania 21.31 69 Tania Belvederesi (Ita) Master Team Carpe Diem 23.53 70 Nataliya Yuganiyk (Ukr) Ukraine 23.53 71 Rikka Olsen (Den) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 24.03 72 Cornélia Dreher (Ger) Germany 25.09 73 Samanta Loschi (Ita) Master Team Carpe Diem 1.05.34 Mountains classification after stage 2a: 1. Géraldine Loewenguth (Fra) France 24 pts 2. Tatiana Stiajkina (Ukr) Ukraine 16 3. Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Netherlands 10 4. Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) Radteam Kupfernagel 10 5. Svetlana Boubnenkova (Rus) Russia 5 6. Cindy Pieters (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 5 7. Heidi Van De Vijver (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 5 8. Diana Ziliute (Ltu) Lithuania 4 9. Juanita Feldhahn (Aus) Mixte 1 Canada/Australie 3 10. Aline Camboulives (Fra) France 2 Points classification after stage 2a: 1. Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) Radteam Kupfernagel 32 pts 2. Petra Rossner (Ger) Saturn Cycling Team 32 3. Géraldine Loewenguth (Fra) France 27 4. Ina Teutenberg (Ger) Germany 21 5. Tatiana Stiajkina (Ukr) Ukraine 20 6. Diana Ziliute (Ltu) Lithuania 20 7. Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Netherlands 16 8. Heidi Van De Vijver (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 14 9. Mirella Van Melis (Ned) Netherlands 14 10. Anna Wilson (Aus) Saturn Cycling Team 13 11. Juanita Feldhahn (Aus) Mixte 1 Canada/Australie 12 12. Olga Slioussareva (Rus) Russia 12 13. Aline Camboulives (Fra) France 10 14. Magali Le Floc'h (Fra) France 10 15. Clara Hughes (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 9 16. Cindy Pieters (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 9 17. Yvonne Brunen (Ned) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 9 18. Lyne Bessette (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 9 19. Jolanta Polikeviciute (Ltu) Lithuania 8 20. Nataliya Yuganiyk (Ukr) Ukraine 7 21. Sandy Espeseth (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australie 6 22. Maryline Salvetat (Fra) France 5 23. Angela Hillenga (Ned) Netherlands 5 24. Meike De Bruijn (Ned) Radteam Kupfernagel 4 25. Tania Belvederesi (Ita) Master Team Carpe Diem 4 26. Madeleine Lindberg (Swe) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 3 27. Goulnara Ivanova (Rus) Russia 3 28. Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 2 29. Elisabeth Chevanne Brunel (Fra) France 2 30. Vanja Vonckx (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 1 Sprints classification after stage 2a: 1. Olga Slioussareva (Rus) Russia 13 pts 2. Clara Hughes (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 8 3. Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Netherlands 8 4. Zita Urbonaite (Ltu) Lithuania 5 5. Anna Wilson (Aus) Saturn Cycling Team 3 6. Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) Radteam Kupfernagel 3 7. Yvonne Brunen (Ned) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 2 8. Diana Ziliute (Ltu) Lithuania 1 9. Valetyna Karpenko (Ukr) Ukraine 1 Teams classification after stage 2a: 1. France 15.46.55 2. Ukraine 3.29 3. Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 5.01 4. Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 7.11 5. Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 9.31 6. Saturn Cycling Team 10.07 7. Netherlands 10.25 8. Radteam Kupfernagel 11.52 9. Russia 14.56 10. Lithuania 16.25 11. Germany 27.59 12. Team Aliverti Immobilione 31.37 13. Master Team Carpe Diem 45.49 |