16th Tour de l'Aude - 2.9.1France, May 5-14, 2000Main Page Anna Wilson's report Results Previous stageStage 8 - May 13: Font-Romeu - Limoux, 108 kmTeutonic victoryThe second last stage of the Tour de l'Aude was probably the easiest of the tour, descending 1700 metres from the Pyreneean town of Font Romeu to Limoux at 100 metres. After yesterday, the general classification looked to be sewn up, with Germany's Hanka Kupfernagel (Radteam Kupfernagel) holding a four minute gap to Dutchwoman Mirjam Melchers. The 108 kilometre stage saw a break occur at the 15 kilometre mark, as Ina Yoko-Teutenberg (Germany) and Anna Wilson (Saturn) slipped the clutches of the peloton. As these were two of the best sprinters in the race, the bunch was happy to let them go it seemed and they gained four minutes by the finish. Each have won a stage in the tour so far, but today the sprint of Teutenberg proved to be stronger. You'll be able to read Anna's side of things after she posts her diary. The bunch sprint was led home by another German, Petra Rossner, Wilson's Saturn teammate who beat Frenchwoman Magali Le Floc'h. In the overall standings, Kupfernagel maintained her 4 minute lead, while Wilson once again moved herself up into 6th behind Tatiana Stiajkina of the Ukraine. Tomorrow's final stage is actually the longest of the tour - a 138 kilometre loop starting and finishing in Limoux. It is not easy, with a 620 and a 420 metre climb to be tackled, and could see some more shaking up of the GC, although presumably not at the top. Anna Wilson's reportThe second last day of the tour was the "downhill" stage - 108km where we started at 1800 metres and finished at about 100 metres. We still had a 2 km climb to start with to get out of town and I wondered if any of the top few contenders in the tour would try to use that as a launching pad to attack Hanka Kupfernagel. She was now looking pretty secure in yellow with more than a 4 minute lead over second place. Miriam Melchers from Holland was in second place and I wondered if the Dutch team had any plans for a final attempt on the yellow jersey. We were all pretty surprised when it was Hanka that put the hurt on from the start - she put the pressure on immediately and all sorts of gaps were appearing. Over the top a group of about 15 riders had a gap - I had made the group for Saturn and I was prepared to roll turns since I had a good chance of winning the sprint if the group stayed away. However, Geraldine Loewengeuth had missed the move and she was sitting third overall so the French team were desperate to bring us back. Eventually they did and the counterattacks began. We were able to cover the moves and in the end it was Ina Teutenberg (German) and myself that got a gap on the field. Ina was keen to try and win the points jersey - awarded to the person with the most consistent stage placings every day. Ina was only a few points behind Hanka Kupfernagel so she was keen for a good result. She worked really hard to establish the break. I wasn't so sure what I should do. Ina is a fast sprinter and I knew that if we stayed away together, Ina probably had the better chance of winning the sprint. But if we took enough time out of the bunch then I had a chance to move up in the general classification. I decided to keep rolling through to help Ina without killing myself, and wait for a chance to call up our team car so I could ask our director what he thought I should do. It wasn't until we had reached the bottom of the major descent of the day that the car could get there. By that time Ina and I had a lead of 3 minutes on the bunch. Our director told me to keep working to see how far the time gap would go. With 20 kms to go we had 6 minutes. If we got another two minutes I would move into third overall. At that point, our director allowed me to make a deal with Ina - we would both ride as hard as we possibly could to the finish - her helping me to get as much time as possible and then I would give her the stage victory. Without a deal like this, Ina would be reluctant to work too hard since she didn't need any time gap at the finish - she was only interested in victory. So we would slow down, with tactical manoevres to prepare for the sprint. As it was, the bunch behind us began to get organised. The Ukrainians in particular began to chase hard since I was beginning to threaten their rider in 5th place on the general classification. I put everything I had into the ride and let Ina take the win and waited to see what the time gap would be. In the end we had 4 minutes - which turned out to not even be enough to move me up at all - I needed another 50 seconds to reach 5th overall. The team was a little disappointed that we had sacrificed a stage victory without actually gaining anything. The one thing we did achieve was to move into 3rd on the teams classification and I was now at least within closer striking distance of moving up on the final day of racing. Results1 Ina Teutenberg (Ger) Germany 2.17.56 (46.109 km/h) 2 Anna Wilson (Aus) Saturn Cycling Team 3 Petra Rossner (Ger) Saturn Cycling Team 3.57 4 Magali Le Floc'h (Fra) France 3.58 5 Svetlana Samokhvalova (Rus) Russia 6 Tania Belvederesi (Ita) Master Team Carpe Diem 7 Vera Hohlfeld (Ger) Germany 8 Heidi Van De Vijver (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 9 Jolanta Polikeviciute (Ltu) Lithuania 10 Chantal Beltman (Ned) Netherlands 11 Vanja Vonckx (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 12 Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Netherlands 13 Elisabeth Chevanne Brunel (Fra) France 14 Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) Radteam Kupfernagel 15 Svetlana Boubnenkova (Rus) Russia 16 Leigh Hobson (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 17 Cindy Pieters (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 18 Tatiana Stiajkina (Ukr) Ukraine 19 Arenda Grimberg (Ned) Netherlands 20 Valetyna Karpenko (Ukr) Ukraine 21 Rasa Polikeviciute (Ltu) Lithuania 22 Sandra Missbach (Ger) Radteam Kupfernagel 23 Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 24 Lada Kozlikova (Cze) Radteam Kupfernagel 25 Madeleine Lindberg (Swe) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 26 Nataliya Kachalka (Ukr) Ukraine 27 Yuliya Murenka (Ukr) Ukraine 28 Laurence Restoin (Fra) France 29 Cybil Di Guistini (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 30 Aline Camboulives (Fra) France 31 Juanita Feldhahn (Aus) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 32 Valentina Polkhanova (Rus) Russia 33 Géraldine Loewenguth (Fra) France 34 Maryline Salvetat (Fra) France 4.05 35 Sandy Espeseth (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 36 Marcia Eicher-Vouets (Swi) Master Team Carpe Diem 4.08 37 Meike De Bruijn (Ned) Radteam Kupfernagel 38 Tetyana Andrushchenko (Ukr) Ukraine 39 Veronique Belleter (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 40 Kym Shirley (Aus) Saturn Cycling Team 41 Clara Hughes (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 42 Vanessa Cheatley (NZl) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 43 Yvonne Brunen (Ned) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 44 Kerstin Scheitle (Ger) Germany 45 Zoulfia Zabirova (Rus) Russia 46 Deirdre Demet-Barry (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 47 Lyne Bessette (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 48 Judith Arndt (Ger) Germany 5.02 49 Marianna Lorenzoni (Ita) Team Aliverti Immobilione 9.41 50 Ita Kryjanovskaïa (Rus) Radteam Kupfernagel 51 Nataliya Yuganiyk (Ukr) Ukraine 52 Mirella Van Melis (Ned) Netherlands 53 Rikka Olsen (Den) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 54 Rasa Mazeikyte (Ltu) Team Aliverti Immobilione 55 Angela Hillenga (Ned) Netherlands 56 Cornélia Dreher (Ger) Germany 57 Daphny Van Den Brand (Ned) Radteam Kupfernagel 58 Claudia Marietta (Ita) Master Team Carpe Diem 59 Goulnara Ivanova (Rus) Russia 60 Erika Vilunaite (Ltu) Lithuania 16.30 61 Rita Narbutyte (Ltu) Lithuania General classification after stage 8: 1 Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) Radteam Kupfernagel 22.49.29 (36.040 km/h) 2 Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Netherlands 4.10 3 Géraldine Loewenguth (Fra) France 4.44 4 Heidi Van De Vijver (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 5.33 5 Tatiana Stiajkina (Ukr) Ukraine 6.57 6 Anna Wilson (Aus) Saturn Cycling Team 7.47 7 Juanita Feldhahn (Aus) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 12.56 8 Madeleine Lindberg (Swe) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 13.30 9 Cindy Pieters (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 13.47 10 Lyne Bessette (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 14.20 11 Aline Camboulives (Fra) France 15.00 12 Chantal Beltman (Ned) Netherlands 15.41 13 Valentina Polkhanova (Rus) Russia 15.56 14 Sandy Espeseth (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 16.14 15 Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 17.01 16 Meike De Bruijn (Ned) Radteam Kupfernagel 18.06 17 Cybil Di Guistini (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 18.23 18 Svetlana Boubnenkova (Rus) Russia 18.26 19 Yuliya Murenka (Ukr) Ukraine 19.19 20 Arenda Grimberg (Ned) Netherlands 19.21 21 Maryline Salvetat (Fra) France 19.31 22 Leigh Hobson (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 20.06 23 Elisabeth Chevanne Brunel (Fra) France 20.10 24 Magali Le Floc'h (Fra) France 21.35 25 Laurence Restoin (Fra) France 22.25 26 Jolanta Polikeviciute (Ltu) Lithuania 22.36 27 Deirdre Demet-Barry (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 22.58 28 Marcia Eicher-Vouets (Swi) Master Team Carpe Diem 25.39 29 Yvonne Brunen (Ned) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 26.18 30 Ina Teutenberg (Ger) Germany 29.47 31 Rasa Polikeviciute (Ltu) Lithuania 30.38 32 Vera Hohlfeld (Ger) Germany 30.53 33 Vanessa Cheatley (NZl) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 31.18 34 Nataliya Kachalka (Ukr) Ukraine 32.39 35 Clara Hughes (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 32.47 36 Valetyna Karpenko (Ukr) Ukraine 33.12 37 Tetyana Andrushchenko (Ukr) Ukraine 33.20 38 Zoulfia Zabirova (Rus) Russia 33.48 39 Kym Shirley (Aus) Saturn Cycling Team 34.52 40 Vanja Vonckx (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 35.09 41 Lada Kozlikova (Cze) Radteam Kupfernagel 36.29 42 Kerstin Scheitle (Ger) Germany 39.44 43 Veronique Belleter (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 39.45 44 Marianna Lorenzoni (Ita) Team Aliverti Immobilione 43.37 45 Svetlana Samokhvalova (Rus) Russia 47.23 46 Rasa Mazeikyte (Ltu) Team Aliverti Immobilione 47.40 47 Sandra Missbach (Ger) Radteam Kupfernagel 47.43 48 Petra Rossner (Ger) Saturn Cycling Team 48.24 49 Mirella Van Melis (Ned) Netherlands 49.47 50 Angela Hillenga (Ned) Netherlands 51.56 51 Daphny Van Den Brand (Ned) Radteam Kupfernagel 56.36 52 Judith Arndt (Ger) Germany 59.51 53 Rikka Olsen (Den) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 1.05.52 54 Cornélia Dreher (Ger) Germany 1.07.37 55 Tania Belvederesi (Ita) Master Team Carpe Diem 1.17.33 56 Goulnara Ivanova (Rus) Russia 1.21.35 57 Nataliya Yuganiyk (Ukr) Ukraine 1.27.00 58 Erika Vilunaite (Ltu) Lithuania 1.29.03 59 Ita Kryjanovskaïa (Rus) Radteam Kupfernagel 1.31.24 60 Claudia Marietta (Ita) Master Team Carpe Diem 1.34.38 61 Rita Narbutyte (Ltu) Lithuania 2.23.15 Points classification: 1 Ina Teutenberg (Ger) Germany 112 pts 2 Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) Radteam Kupfernagel 93 3 Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Netherlands 89 4 Anna Wilson (Aus) Saturn Cycling Team 80 5 Petra Rossner (Ger) Saturn Cycling Team 73 6 Magali Le Floc'h (Fra) France 70 7 Tatiana Stiajkina (Ukr) Ukraine 58 8 Heidi Van De Vijver (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 54 9 Géraldine Loewenguth (Fra) France 43 10 Lyne Bessette (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 37 11 Yvonne Brunen (Ned) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 35 12 Svetlana Samokhvalova (Rus) Russia 35 13 Mirella Van Melis (Ned) Netherlands 34 14 Jolanta Polikeviciute (Ltu) Lithuania 32 15 Yuliya Murenka (Ukr) Ukraine 31 16 Arenda Grimberg (Ned) Netherlands 30 17 Vanja Vonckx (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 30 18 Juanita Feldhahn (Aus) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 28 19 Tania Belvederesi (Ita) Master Team Carpe Diem 23 20 Valentina Polkhanova (Rus) Russia 19 21 Svetlana Boubnenkova (Rus) Russia 19 22 Sandy Espeseth (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 18 23 Cindy Pieters (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 16 24 Lada Kozlikova (Cze) Radteam Kupfernagel 15 25 Chantal Beltman (Ned) Netherlands 15 26 Elisabeth Chevanne Brunel (Fra) France 14 27 Aline Camboulives (Fra) France 13 28 Madeleine Lindberg (Swe) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 13 29 Vera Hohlfeld (Ger) Germany 12 30 Deirdre Demet-Barry (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 11 31 Clara Hughes (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 9 32 Zoulfia Zabirova (Rus) Russia 8 33 Nataliya Yuganiyk (Ukr) Ukraine 7 34 Maryline Salvetat (Fra) France 5 35 Angela Hillenga (Ned) Netherlands 5 36 Cybil Di Guistini (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 4 37 Meike De Bruijn (Ned) Radteam Kupfernagel 4 38 Goulnara Ivanova (Rus) Russia 3 39 Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 2 Mountains classification: 1 Tatiana Stiajkina (Ukr) Ukraine 43 pts 2 Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) Radteam Kupfernagel 31 3 Géraldine Loewenguth (Fra) France 26 4 Svetlana Boubnenkova (Rus) Russia 17 5 Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Netherlands 13 6 Yuliya Murenka (Ukr) Ukraine 13 7 Lyne Bessette (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 11 8 Valentina Polkhanova (Rus) Russia 9 9 Heidi Van De Vijver (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 8 10 Juanita Feldhahn (Aus) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 6 11 Magali Le Floc'h (Fra) France 5 12 Yvonne Brunen (Ned) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 5 13 Cindy Pieters (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 5 14 Anna Wilson (Aus) Saturn Cycling Team 3 15 Sandy Espeseth (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 3 16 Ina Teutenberg (Ger) Germany 3 17 Aline Camboulives (Fra) France 3 18 Elisabeth Chevanne Brunel (Fra) France 2 19 Chantal Beltman (Ned) Netherlands 2 20 Arenda Grimberg (Ned) Netherlands 2 21 Jolanta Polikeviciute (Ltu) Lithuania 2 22 Deirdre Demet-Barry (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 1 Hot spot sprints classification: 1 Arenda Grimberg (Ned) Netherlands 35 pts 2 Anna Wilson (Aus) Saturn Cycling Team 25 3 Valentina Polkhanova (Rus) Russia 25 4 Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) Radteam Kupfernagel 25 5 Yvonne Brunen (Ned) Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 15 6 Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Netherlands 13 7 Magali Le Floc'h (Fra) France 11 8 Clara Hughes (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 10 9 Lyne Bessette (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 10 10 Tatiana Stiajkina (Ukr) Ukraine 9 11 Yuliya Murenka (Ukr) Ukraine 8 12 Ina Teutenberg (Ger) Germany 8 13 Cindy Pieters (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 5 14 Sandy Espeseth (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 5 15 Jolanta Polikeviciute (Ltu) Lithuania 4 16 Maryline Salvetat (Fra) France 4 17 Svetlana Boubnenkova (Rus) Russia 3 18 Deirdre Demet-Barry (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 3 19 Sandra Missbach (Ger) Radteam Kupfernagel 2 20 Zoulfia Zabirova (Rus) Russia 2 21 Heidi Van De Vijver (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 2 22 Leigh Hobson (Can) Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 1 23 Svetlana Samokhvalova (Rus) Russia 1 24 Elisabeth Chevanne Brunel (Fra) France 1 25 Rasa Polikeviciute (Ltu) Lithuania 1 26 Valetyna Karpenko (Ukr) Ukraine 1 Teams classification: 1 France 69.05.11 2 Netherlands 2.49 3 Saturn Cycling Team 7.33 4 Radteam Kupfernagel 8.31 5 Mixte 1 Canada/Australia 10.09 6 Vlaanderen 2002 Ladies Team 10.57 7 Ukraine 15.49 8 Mixte 2 Farm Frites/Timex 17.39 9 Russia 21.46 10 Germany 47.28 11 Lithuania 1.10.14 12 Master Team Carpe Diem 2.35.17 |