Tour l'Aude = Results and Report from Final StageThe last stage was 130km with 4 climbs. In the past, this has been a very hard stage and the field has split on the first climb. This year, the first climb was about 5.5km long and started about 30km into the race. The field was aggressive from the start with numerous attacks by riders low on g.c who wanted a head start on the climb. The Ebly team seemed determined to keep things together. They not only covered most of the breaks and sat on, but they also towed the field up to anything that got off. It seemed like a lot of work to protect Heidi's 3rd place. I could see that it wasn't too likely that anything would go, and if it did, it would get absorbed on the climb so I just covered what I could without too much effort and stayed near the front in case anyone dangerous went. Eventually, Yvonne Brunen (Hol), Ina Tutenberg (Ger) and one other (a Belgian, I think) got away and had about 35sec. by the base of the climb but they were all caught by 2km or so. On the climb, the Russians did their usual thing when planning a hill attack: their lower g.c. riders strung things out from the bottom until they blew and then Valentina started her vicious tempo. Except this time, it didn't seem quite as vicious (at least to me) and Bubnenkova never attacked. We had the usual group of 12-15 or so at the top. THe only US riders were myself and Pam Schuster (Look). We kept it going at tempo, but as usual, the group was too big to be really motivated and all the major g.c. riders were there so we were eventually caught by another 15-20 riders or so.We did a lot of climbs on narrow roads that weren't "official" sprint climbs and on one of these, Elisabeth Chevanne-Brunel attacked and got off with Samokhalova, Pam and one of the Ebly/Lithuanian twins. I saw the Russians start to gather at the front so I quickly bridged up while I had the chance. SOmeone must have been blocking, because we got a pretty good gap quickly. Neither Polikevichuite nor Samokhalova would work, but the the other 3 of us tried to keep it going. We were eventually caught though. Yvonne Brunen, Julie Young, myself and Elisabeth C-B tried some attacks on the flats but nothing worked. The 3rd climb was at about 110km and was only 1km long but really steep. I attacked hard at the bottom and got a good gap. By the top, Elisabeth C-B and one of the twins had come up to me. Elisabeth and I kept going over the top and on the descent but the twin wouldn't work and her sister and Marsal were chasing. It really didn't make sense: neither Elisabeth nor I were any threat to Heidi's g.c (we were something like 6 and 7 min. down and there was only 20km left in the race...). I heard the rumor later that both the Ebly team and Marsal were working for Linda. It still didn't make sense though because we were even less of a threat to Linda and one would think they would be interested in a possible stage win... So yet again the race ended in a field sprint of 25-30 riders which yet again Viola Paulitz won. At least I did get to sprint this time and took 3rd. Viola got dropped on every climb, but between her superb (and fearless) descending skills and the lack of motivation in the front group, she was always able to chase on. Stage 10:
1. Viola Pualitz 3:43:26 2. Monika Valvik st 3. Karen Kurreck 4. Cathy Marsal 5. Tanja Schmidt 6. Rachael Leroux 7. Yvonne Brunnen 8. Vera Hohfeld 9. Svetlana Samokhalova 10. Elisabeth Chevanne-Brunel ... 15. Julie Young st ... 20. Joan Wilson @6sec ... 26. Pam Schuster @15 sec ... 32. Julie Hudetz @1:21 ... Final Overall: 1. Linda Jackson 29:35:44 2. Svetlana Bubnenkova @1:38 3. Heidi Van de Vijver @2:16 4. Rasa Polikevichuite @6:11 5. Svetlana Samokhalova @6:47 6. Cathy Marsal @9:27 7. Lenka Ilaskva @9:48 8. Karen Kurreck @9:57 9. Elisabeth CHevanne-Brunel @10:11 10. Diana Rast @10:59 Other US Finishers: 15. Pam Schuster @12:06 ... 17. Joan Wilson @13:08 ... 23. Sue Palmer @22:39 ... 34. Julie Hudetz @38:00 ... 36. Julie Young @39:48 ... 38. Clara Hughes @43:53 Carmen didn't start the stage and Elizabeth Emery dropped out during it because they both had colds. Sue Palmer won the climber's jersey, Viola won the Points jersey and Ita Kryjanovskaia won the sprint jersey. Best rider under 21 was Belgian Cindy Pieters in 18th place. By decisively winning both the TT and the hardest mountain stage, Linda proved she was the strongest rider in the field and a deserving winner. She got a standing ovation at the awards banguet. |