Soeder victorious as Cerv?lo TestTeam continues domination
"Today’s stage was a short one and the team once again worked extremely well," said Sports Director Manel Lacambra. "We tried to control the race from the start and then attacked 15 km from the finish with Christiane Soeder, with the goal of placing her ahead of Vos in the overall ranking. Things worked exactly as planned; Soeder escaped successfully and took a solo victory, while the team controlled the peloton. Kirsten Wild won the bunch sprint ahead of Vos. With today’s victory, Christiane is now in the # 1 in the GC and we still have five riders in the top six! For the final stages we will attempt to control the race to take the overall victory."
Giro delle Trentino – Stage 2
Today’s stage in the Giro delle Trentino was 106 km, over four difficult climbs, including a final 6.6 km climb to Faedo. The riders of Cerv?lo TestTeam were working for Carla Ryan and Claudia H?usler, as the final mountain climb was very well suited to both of them. At the top of the third climb, the TestTeam still had 4 riders in the leading group, including Ryan and H?usler. During the downhill, Ryan and 5 other riders managed to break away from the larger group. At the end of the final climb, only Ryan and Nicole Cooke (Vision 1) remained; the others had been unable to follow them in the climb. Ryan attacked in the last kilometer, but Cooke caught up and passed her to take the win.
"I know that a mountaintop finish is perfect for me and is something that I do best," said Carla Ryan. "In the final, I did all that I could. Nicole was just too strong; I tried my hardest, and in the end, I’m happy with second place, particularly considering where I’m at with my fitness. I haven’t raced a lot this season, but after today’s good result, I’m looking forward to the Giro!"
"It was a super performance today," said Cerv?lo TestTeam’s Geert Broekhuizen. "Our preparations towards the Giro d’Italia have been great and the team is in good shape. We are very happy with the second place finish of Carla Ryan and the great team performance overall. Now we are looking forward to the Women’s Giro d’Italia – the Team is ready."
Tour de Suisse Stage 7: Bad Zurzach – Vallorbe Juraparc
Kim Kirchen (Columbia-HighRoad) won Stage 7 of the Tour de Suisse today, passing Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) less than 200m before the finish line. Tadej Valjavec (AG2R-La Mondiale) retained the yellow jersey.
Sports Director Marcello Albasini describes the stage: "In the first 50 km there were a lot of attacks from many teams, including Cerv?lo. Marcel Wyss was particularly active in attacking today. After 50km, a group of three riders (and later one additional rider) broke away and they led the race until the first part of the final climb to Vallorb. Five kilometers from the finish, Katusha and Astana were increasing the tempo into the last part of the climb from Vallorb to the Jurapark. Our mountain riders were inside the big peloton. Then 3 kilometers from the finish Kreuziger attacked – it looked like he could make it, but Kim Kirchen caught him 150 m ahead of the finish.
"The entire team did a good job but at the end in the last few kilometers we just did not have enough power. The finish of this stage was not really something for the light climbers; it was more something for the pushers, as you can see in the results with Kirchen having won. Tomorrow we will attack again and try to achieve a stage win – that was our goal for the Tour de Suisse."
Ster Elektrotoer – Stage 3: Nuth (Schimmert) – Nuth (Schimmert)
Andre Greipel (Columbia-HighRoad) took his second consecutive stage win in a sprint finish at the Ster Elektrotoer today, also taking the overall lead in the race.
"Today we were in the region of the Netherlands where the Amstel Gold Race takes place," said Sports Director Jean Paul van Poppel. "Some of the famous climbs from that race were included in today’s stage. Highroad controlled the race today to end with a sprint finish. There was a early breakaway of three riders including Martin Reimer from our team but unfortunately, the breakaway was not successful and the riders came back into the peloton. We also tried to do something on the local lap but unfortunately there was not much to do today. So again, we had a sprint finish with Andr? Greipel winning. Martin Reimer did a great job and finished 8th. He also won the prize for the young rider of the day. The team did a good job today but we are also fresh enough for the next stages."
