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23rd Tour de l'Aude - 2.1
France, May 18-27, 2007
Main Page Results Overall standings Stage Details Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 8a - May 26: Quillan - Axat, 55 km
Arndt holds on as heat rises
By Greg Johnson
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Judith Arndt (T-Mobile) took her first stage victory since acquiring the yellow jersey in last Sunday's Team Time Trial on the first of today's two stages. The motivation for the German rider to vie for the stage win was simple - there was simply no alternative.
With the race nearing its conclusion and Arndt holding onto the yellow jersey by a matter of seconds, her competitors knew that an attack needed to be now or never, and they chose the former. Team Flexpoint declared its intent early: the Netherlands squad had Susanne Ljungskog in the mix and it was going to do whatever it took to ensure the Swedish rider was wearing yellow by day's end.
Ljungskog broke free from the peloton early on the 55 kilometre stage. As both Arndt and fellow general classification contender Trixi Worrack (Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung) took off in pursuit, spectators were ensured a thrilling battle to the line.
The trio pushed away from the main bunch of 31 riders, and stayed over 30 seconds ahead to the line. With the finish rapidly approaching Arndt wasn't willing to take any risks and jumped away early to a one second victory over Ljungskog. Worrack took third place, three seconds behind Arndt, while the main bunch lead by Angela Brodtka (Germany) and Marianne Vos (Team DSB Bank) rolled home a further 35 seconds back.
The result sees Arndt hold a 27 second margin over Ljungskog heading into this afternoon's penultimate stage. Worrack is 56 seconds adrift in third while Vos, who has won four stages on debut at the Tour de l'Aude, sits in fourth place.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by CJ Farquharson/WomensCycling.net
- The peloton crosses a bridge early in the stage.
- The bunch all together early in the stage.
- The bunch strings out on a corner.
- French National Team riders stick together.
- The view from the bunch.
- Flexpoint, Nürnberger and T-Mobile on the front of the bunch.
- Claudia Hausler (Nürnberger) and Fabiana Luperini (Menikini) head off into the distance
- Worrack leads Arndt and Ljungskog with 15 km to go.
- Arndt wins the stage ahead of Ljungskog.
- A big finishing effort from Lang Meng (Giant)
- Marianne Vos (DSB Bank) kept the points jersey.
- Claudia Hausler (Nürnberger) held on to the mountains jersey.
- Judith Arndt (T-Mobile) protected her race lead by winning the stage.
Results
1 Judith Arndt (Ger) T-Mobile Team - Women 1.34.59 (36.883 km/h) 2 Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Team Flexpoint 0.01 3 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 0.03 4 Angela Brodtka (Ger) Germany 0.38 5 Marianne Vos (Ned) Team DSB Bank 6 Daphny Van Den Brand (Ned) Vrienden Van Het Platteland 7 Joanne Kiesanowski (NZl) Raleigh Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team 8 Julia Martisova (Rus) FRW - Gauss 9 Lang Meng (Chn) Giant Pro Cycling Team 10 Nicole Brändli (Swi) Bigla Cycling Team 11 Tania Belvederesi (Ita) FRW - Gauss 12 Priska Doppmann (Swi) Raleigh Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team 13 Andrea Bosman (Ned) Team DSB Bank 14 Dorte Lohse Rasmussen (Den) Menikini - Gysko 15 Suzanne De Goede (Ned) T-Mobile Team - Women 16 Svetlana Bubnenkova (Rus) Fenixs - HPB 17 Maryline Salvetat (Fra) France 18 Karine Gautard (Fra) France 19 Amber Neben (USA) Team Flexpoint 20 Elena Kuchinskaya (Rus) FRW - Gauss 21 Toni Bradshaw (NZl) New Zealand 22 Jennifer Hohl (Swi) Bigla Cycling Team 23 Sigrid Corneo (Ita) Menikini - Gysko 24 Sarah Düster (Ger) Raleigh Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team 25 Georgina Waibl (NZl) New Zealand 26 Edita Pucinskaite (Ltu) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 27 Olivia Gollan (Aus) Menikini - Gysko 28 Kimberly Anderson (USA) T-Mobile Team - Women 29 Marina Jaunatre (Fra) France 30 Loes Gunnewijk (Ned) Team Flexpoint 31 Tatiana Antoshina (Rus) Fenixs - HPB 32 Andrea Graus (Aut) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 33 Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) Germany 34 Serena Sheridan (NZl) New Zealand 0.48 35 Sharon Van Essen (Ned) Team DSB Bank 36 Natalia Boyarskaya (Rus) Fenixs - HPB 0.51 37 Miho Oki (Jpn) Menikini - Gysko 38 Tanja Slater (GBr) Raleigh Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team 0.53 39 Marlyn Brinnendijk (Ned) Vrienden Van Het Platteland 40 Fabiana Luperini (Ita) Menikini - Gysko 41 Tatsiana Sharakova (Blr) FRW - Gauss 42 Ina Teutenberg (Ger) T-Mobile Team - Women 1.11 43 Linda Villumsen Serup (Den) T-Mobile Team - Women 44 Claudia Häusler (Ger) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 45 Eva Lutz (Ger) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 46 Charlotte Becker (Ger) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 47 Luise Keller (Ger) Team Flexpoint 48 Anne Samplonius (Can) Team Expresscopy.com 3.08 49 Helen Wyman (GBr) Global Racing Team 50 Debby Van De Berg (Ned) Global Racing Team 51 Iris Slappendel (Ned) Team Flexpoint 52 Béatrice Thomas (Fra) France 53 Christelle Ferrier-Bruneau (Fra) Les Pruneaux D'Agen 54 Marlen Johrend (Ger) Germany 55 Fabienne Sandig (Ger) Germany 56 Andrea Thürig (Swi) Bigla Cycling Team 57 Fanny Riberot (Fra) France 5.28 58 Janne Brok (Ned) Vrienden Van Het Platteland 59 Noemi Cantele (Ita) Bigla Cycling Team 60 Nathalie Jeuland (Fra) France 61 Oxana Kozonchuk (Rus) Fenixs - HPB 6.42 62 Sufen Ma (Chn) Giant Pro Cycling Team 63 Silvia Valsecchi (Ita) Menikini - Gysko 6.46 64 Ana Garcia Antequera (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 65 Melissa Holt (NZl) Team Expresscopy.com 66 Alexandra Sontheimer (Ger) Germany 67 Liane Bahler (Ger) Fenixs - HPB 68 Edita Janeliunaite (Ltu) Lithuania 7.29 69 Lina Skujaute (Ltu) Lithuania 70 Eleonora Van Dijk (Ned) Vrienden Van Het Platteland 71 Agne Sukutyte (Ltu) Lithuania 72 Carina Ketonen (Fra) Les Pruneaux D'Agen 73 Maria Rosario Rodriguez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 74 Fei Wang (Chn) Giant Pro Cycling Team 75 Marieke Van Wanroij (Ned) Team DSB Bank 76 Jaccolien Wallaard (Ned) Vrienden Van Het Platteland 77 Kettj Manfrin (Ita) FRW - Gauss 78 Linda Ringlever (Ned) Global Racing Team 79 Erinne Willock (Can) Team Expresscopy.com 80 Urte Juodvalkyte (Ltu) Lithuania 81 Maribel Moreno Allue (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 10.30 82 Silvia Tirado Marquez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 83 Li Ping (Chn) Giant Pro Cycling Team 11.23 84 Céline Nivet (Fra) Les Pruneaux D'Agen 12.04 85 Agne Miliskeviciute (Ltu) Lithuania 86 Amanda Shaw (Can) Team Expresscopy.com 12.06 87 Xiong Ying Ruan (Chn) Giant Pro Cycling Team 88 Anke Wichmann (Ger) T-Mobile Team - Women 89 Marina Duvnjak (NZl) New Zealand 12.21 DNF Patricia Schwager (Swi) Raleigh Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team DNF Xiaoning Gao (Chn) Giant Pro Cycling Team DNS Sanne Van Paassen (Ned) Team DSB Bank DNS Joelle Numainville (Can) Team Expresscopy.com General classification after stage 8a 1 Judith Arndt (Ger) T-Mobile Team - Women 20.41.12 2 Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Team Flexpoint 0.27 3 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 0.56 4 Marianne Vos (Ned) Team DSB Bank 1.51 5 Priska Doppmann (Swi) Raleigh Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team 1.53 6 Nicole Brändli (Swi) Bigla Cycling Team 1.58 7 Andrea Bosman (Ned) Team DSB Bank 2.49 8 Amber Neben (USA) Team Flexpoint 2.53 9 Edita Pucinskaite (Ltu) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 3.38 10 Joanne Kiesanowski (NZl) Raleigh Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team 3.42 11 Maryline Salvetat (Fra) France 3.51 12 Svetlana Bubnenkova (Rus) Fenixs - HPB 5.12 13 Julia Martisova (Rus) FRW - Gauss 5.14 14 Kimberly Anderson (USA) T-Mobile Team - Women 6.54 15 Marina Jaunatre (Fra) France 7.04 16 Sigrid Corneo (Ita) Menikini - Gysko 7.27 17 Toni Bradshaw (NZl) New Zealand 10.54 18 Elena Kuchinskaya (Rus) FRW - Gauss 12.19 19 Loes Gunnewijk (Ned) Team Flexpoint 13.19 20 Andrea Graus (Aut) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 15.17 21 Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) Germany 17.43 22 Claudia Häusler (Ger) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 18.01 23 Serena Sheridan (NZl) New Zealand 19.41 24 Dorte Lohse Rasmussen (Den) Menikini - Gysko 19.43 25 Suzanne De Goede (Ned) T-Mobile Team - Women 20.59 26 Tanja Slater (GBr) Raleigh Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team 21.09 27 Sarah Düster (Ger) Raleigh Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team 22.36 28 Fabiana Luperini (Ita) Menikini - Gysko 23.09 29 Georgina Waibl (NZl) New Zealand 29.30 30 Linda Villumsen Serup (Den) T-Mobile Team - Women 34.15 31 Andrea Thürig (Swi) Bigla Cycling Team 35.35 32 Debby Van De Berg (Ned) Global Racing Team 36.27 33 Charlotte Becker (Ger) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 40.08 34 Tatsiana Sharakova (Blr) FRW - Gauss 41.45 35 Jennifer Hohl (Swi) Bigla Cycling Team 42.22 36 Tatiana Antoshina (Rus) Fenixs - HPB 43.42 37 Marlyn Brinnendijk (Ned) Vrienden Van Het Platteland 44.02 38 Daphny Van Den Brand (Ned) Vrienden Van Het Platteland 45.13 39 Karine Gautard (Fra) France 45.46 40 Luise Keller (Ger) Team Flexpoint 46.27 41 Fabienne Sandig (Ger) Germany 48.27 42 Anne Samplonius (Can) Team Expresscopy.com 49.03 43 Eva Lutz (Ger) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 50.29 44 Lang Meng (Chn) Giant Pro Cycling Team 51.29 45 Olivia Gollan (Aus) Menikini - Gysko 51.59 46 Oxana Kozonchuk (Rus) Fenixs - HPB 57.13 47 Christelle Ferrier-Bruneau (Fra) Les Pruneaux D'Agen 57.55 48 Béatrice Thomas (Fra) France 58.13 49 Maria Rosario Rodriguez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 1.00.25 50 Ana Garcia Antequera (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 1.00.27 51 Noemi Cantele (Ita) Bigla Cycling Team 1.01.45 52 Sharon Van Essen (Ned) Team DSB Bank 1.02.16 53 Helen Wyman (GBr) Global Racing Team 1.03.19 54 Melissa Holt (NZl) Team Expresscopy.com 1.05.43 55 Natalia Boyarskaya (Rus) Fenixs - HPB 1.06.12 56 Ina Teutenberg (Ger) T-Mobile Team - Women 1.08.35 57 Maribel Moreno Allue (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 1.14.41 58 Tania Belvederesi (Ita) FRW - Gauss 1.15.21 59 Eleonora Van Dijk (Ned) Vrienden Van Het Platteland 1.15.25 60 Iris Slappendel (Ned) Team Flexpoint 1.16.11 61 Janne Brok (Ned) Vrienden Van Het Platteland 1.18.13 62 Urte Juodvalkyte (Ltu) Lithuania 1.18.24 63 Liane Bahler (Ger) Fenixs - HPB 1.19.52 64 Silvia Valsecchi (Ita) Menikini - Gysko 1.21.20 65 Marlen Johrend (Ger) Germany 1.21.45 66 Angela Brodtka (Ger) Germany 1.22.07 67 Miho Oki (Jpn) Menikini - Gysko 1.22.15 68 Nathalie Jeuland (Fra) France 1.24.11 69 Alexandra Sontheimer (Ger) Germany 1.27.29 70 Erinne Willock (Can) Team Expresscopy.com 1.28.17 71 Carina Ketonen (Fra) Les Pruneaux D'Agen 1.29.55 72 Linda Ringlever (Ned) Global Racing Team 1.30.14 73 Jaccolien Wallaard (Ned) Vrienden Van Het Platteland 1.33.33 74 Sufen Ma (Chn) Giant Pro Cycling Team 1.35.14 75 Fanny Riberot (Fra) France 1.35.20 76 Kettj Manfrin (Ita) FRW - Gauss 1.35.31 77 Marieke Van Wanroij (Ned) Team DSB Bank 1.35.45 78 Fei Wang (Chn) Giant Pro Cycling Team 1.35.52 79 Lina Skujaute (Ltu) Lithuania 1.38.30 80 Anke Wichmann (Ger) T-Mobile Team - Women 1.46.02 81 Edita Janeliunaite (Ltu) Lithuania 1.47.04 82 Marina Duvnjak (NZl) New Zealand 1.48.31 83 Li Ping (Chn) Giant Pro Cycling Team 2.00.04 84 Silvia Tirado Marquez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 2.04.18 85 Amanda Shaw (Can) Team Expresscopy.com 2.04.33 86 Xiong Ying Ruan (Chn) Giant Pro Cycling Team 2.04.54 87 Agne Sukutyte (Ltu) Lithuania 2.22.57 88 Agne Miliskeviciute (Ltu) Lithuania 2.25.45 89 Céline Nivet (Fra) Les Pruneaux D'Agen 2.51.29
