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Tour de Prince Edward Island - 2.2 (W)
Canada, June 10-14, 2007
Main Page Results Overall standings Next Stage
Stage 1 - June 10: City of Summerside, 98km
Burchenkova wins in Summerside
By Kirsten Robbins in Summerside
An unexpected solo break turned out to be the winning move for Team Russia's Alexandra Burchenkova as she cruised into the finish line 11 seconds ahead of the charging field to win the first stage of the Inaugural Tour de PEI. Menikini's Rochelle Gilmore came through one step ahead of Safi-Pasta's Giorgia Bronzini in a test-run sprint in their preparations for the upcoming Giro d' Italia.
A combination of high winds and a furry of attacks forced the field in to the gutter for much of the Tour de PEI 's first stage hosted by the city of Summerside . There were several break away attempts during the race, but it was Alexandra Burchenkova's escape on the eighth lap which succeeded. Attacking the peloton shortly before a break of four was captured by the peloton, she stayed away for the remaining two laps until the finish.
"I knew it was very difficult to get away during the cross and tail wind sections
of the circuit because the field was too fast," Burchenkova said. "I decided
to attack through the headwind section when the break away came back. I think
anyone of my teammates could have done what I did today - it was just me who
went at that time."
Safi-Pasta rallied their team to the front of the field in an effort to close down the one-minute gap to the Russian. With help from several individual riders, the break was reduced to just twenty seconds with only a few kilometers remaining but it was a case of too little too late, and the field had to resign themselves to the fact they would be sprinting for second.
After her accident in stage four of the Tour du Grand Montreal, Menikini's Australian
sprinter, Rachelle Gilmore, proved to be back on form when she claimed the field
sprint for second place, 11 seconds behind the winner, but giving her enough
points to take the lead of both the sprint and points competition. Gilmore commented
on the sprint and what it means to her preparations for the upcoming Giro d'
Italia. "I was really surprised at the strength in my legs today,"
Gilmore said. "I think it was because of the break I had after my crash
in Montreal - I haven't touched my bike in three days. I wasn't sure how I would
feel but my legs felt really powerful and I was really enjoying the sprints
because I could come off the wheels and I found it quit easy."
Though Gilmore would have preferred the win she added, "It's disappointing
because a girl got away but she really deserves that win because there were
a lot of people trying to pull her back. The race is a very important part of
training for the Giro. Giorgia Bronzini is one of the fastest sprinters in the
world so this is good training to be able to race with her. In the finish Safi-Pasta
had a full lead out and I came around Diana Ziliute with Giorgia on my wheel."
The race, in its inaugural year, is well suited for the province's 175th birthday.
Stage two will take the riders over the Confederation Bridge, linking Prince
Edward Island to the Canadian mainland. "It was a really nice course today,"
remarked Gilmore. "I think the organization has been fantastic so far.
For the first time (that) an event has happened you'd expect a few hiccups but
so far everything has been fantastic from hotels to bus transfers."
Results
1 Alexandra Burchenkova (Rus) Russian Cycling Federation 2.30.00 2 Rachelle Gilmore (Aus) Menikini - Selle Italia - Gysko 0.11 3 Giorgia Bronzini (Ita) Safi - Pasta Zara Manhattan 4 Diana Ziliute (Ltu) Safi - Pasta Zara Manhattan 5 Yumari Gonzalez (Cub) Cuba National Team 6 Yulia Arustamova (Rus) Russian Cycling Federation 7 Alessandra Borchi (Ita) Safi - Pasta Zara Manhattan 8 Yoanka Gonzalez (Cub) Cuba National Team 9 Dalila Rodriguez (Cub) Cuba National Team 10 Elke Gebhardt (Ger) Getranke-Hoffmann 11 Venera Absalyamova (Rus) Russian Cycling Federation 12 Mackenzie Dickey (USA) Colavita Sutter Home presented by Cooking 13 Véronique Labonté (Can) Cascades 14 Yudelmis Dominguez (Cub) Cuba National Team 15 Gina Waibl (NZl) New Zealand National Team 16 Daniela Fusarpoli (Ita) Safi - Pasta Zara Manhattan 17 Edwige Pitel (Fra) Team UNIQA 18 Candice Sullivan (Aus) Australian National Team 19 Karin Aune (Swe) Menikini - Selle Italia - Gysko 20 Michelle Hyland (NZl) Team UNIQA 21 Toni Bradshaw (NZl) New Zealand National Team 22 Alison Testroete (Can) Team expresscopy.com 23 Carissa Wilkes (NZl) New Zealand National Team 24 Jocelyn Loane (Aus) Australian National Team 25 Theresa Senff (Ger) Getranke-Hoffmann 26 Megan Guarnier (USA) Terry Precision 27 Ekaterina Malomura (Rus) Russian Cycling Federation 28 Elena Novikova (Rus) Russian Cycling Federation 29 Carla Ryan (Aus) Australian National Team 30 Gao Xiaoning (Chn) Giant Pro Cycling 31 Ruan Xiong_Ying (Chn) Giant Pro Cycling 32 Tiffany Cromwell (Aus) Colavita Sutter Home presented by Cooking 33 Serena Sheridan (NZl) New Zealand National Team 34 Marie-Pier Bedard (Can) Menikini - Selle Italia - Gysko 35 Ireen Wieditz (Can) Terry Precision 36 Veronika Spruegl (Aut) Team UNIQA 37 Amanda Shaw (Can) Team expresscopy.com 38 Julie Bellerose (Can) Cascades 39 Luisa Tamanini (Ita) Safi - Pasta Zara Manhattan 40 Sarah Tillotson (USA) Colavita Sutter Home presented by Cooking 41 Joelle Numainville (Can) Team expresscopy.com 42 Sara Carrigan (Aus) Australian National Team 43 Elena Gayun (Rus) Russian Cycling Federation 44 Vicki Whitelaw (Aus) Australian National Team 45 Lorian Graham (Aus) Australian National Team 46 Élodie Touffet (Fra) Menikini - Selle Italia - Gysko 47 Annette Beutter (Swi) Menikini - Selle Italia - Gysko 48 Stacy Spencer (Can) Colavita Sutter Home presented by Cooking 49 Yeima Torrez (Cub) Cuba National Team 50 Tina Liebig (Ger) Getranke-Hoffmann 51 Nathalie Bates (Aus) Getranke-Hoffmann 52 Lila Fraser (Can) Cascades 53 Olivia Gollan (Aus) Menikini - Selle Italia - Gysko 54 Elisa Gagnon (Can) Advil/Chapstick 55 Bernadette Schober (Aut) Team UNIQA 56 MoriahJo Macgregor (Can) Atlantic Cycling Centre 57 Brei Gudsell (NZl) New Zealand National Team 58 Krystal Jeffs (Can) Atlantic Cycling Centre 59 Marina Duvnjak (NZl) New Zealand National Team 60 Julie Beverdige (Can) Atlantic Cycling Centre 5.02 61 Kim Blodgett (USA) Target Training Womens Team 62 Hiroko Shimada (Jpn) Target Training Womens Team 63 Virginia Hennig (Ger) Getranke-Hoffmann 64 Anne Guzman (Can) Advil/Chapstick 65 Kirsten Robbins (Can) Advil/Chapstick 66 Silke Wunderwald (Ger) Target Training Womens Team 67 Geneviève Gauthier (Can) Cascades 9.39 68 Sophie Matte (Can) Marinoni-Cadence 11.35 69 Sufen Ma (Chn) Giant Pro Cycling 70 Kelley Murray (Can) Atlantic Cycling Centre 71 Julia Bradley (Can) Advil/Chapstick 11.38 72 Wendy Blagdon (Can) Marinoni-Cadence 13.49 73 Andrea Meyers (USA) Target Training Womens Team 74 Julie Marceau (Can) Marinoni-Cadence 75 Wang Fei (Chn) Giant Pro Cycling 76 Janie Fortin (Can) Marinoni-Cadence 77 Jessica Burns (Can) Cascades 15.11 78 Vanessa Godbehere (Can) Marinoni-Cadence 79 Rosie Garlapow (USA) Terry Precision 80 Sarah Coney (Can) Terry Precision 81 Naomi Cermak (Can) Terry Precision 15.41 82 Joanie Caron (Can) Cascades 20.02 83 Amanda Sin (Can) Advil/Chapstick 84 Heidi King (Can) Atlantic Cycling Centre DNS Stéphanie Bourbeau (Can) Team expresscopy.com DNS Karine Tessier (Can) Marinoni-Cadence Sprint s 1 Rachelle Gilmore (Aus) Menikini - Selle Italia - Gysko 10 pts 2 Yumari Gonzalez (Cub) Cuba National Team 9 3 Diana Ziliute (Ltu) Safi - Pasta Zara Manhattan 4 4 Giorgia Bronzini (Ita) Safi - Pasta Zara Manhattan 3 5 Yoanka Gonzalez (Cub) Cuba National Team 1 Points 1 Rachelle Gilmore (Aus) Menikini - Selle Italia - Gysko 17 pts 2 Alexandra Burchenkova (Rus) Russian Cycling Federation 14 3 Yumari Gonzalez (Cub) Cuba National Team 10 4 Giorgia Bronzini (Ita) Safi - Pasta Zara Manhattan 8 5 Diana Ziliute (Ltu) Safi - Pasta Zara Manhattan 3 6 Yoanka Gonzalez (Cub) Cuba National Team 1 Teams 1 Russian Cycling Federation 7.30.22 2 Safi - Pasta Zara Manhattan 0.11 3 Cuba National Team 4 Menikini - Selle Italia - Gysko 5 New Zealand National Team 6 Australian National Team 7 Team UNIQA 8 Colavita Sutter Home presented by Cooking 9 Getranke-Hoffmann 10 Team expresscopy.com 11 Cascades 12 Atlantic Cycling Centre 5.02 13 Advil/Chapstick 9.53 14 Giant Pro Cycling 11.35 15 Target Training Womens Team 14.44 16 Terry Precision 15.11 17 Marinoni-Cadence 38.51
