May 24/02 7:29 am - Tour de l'Aude: Stage 8

Posted by Editoress on 05/24/02
 

Tour de l'Aude Stage 8
Report courtesy Team Saturn

Pucinskaite Wins in the Mountains
Yellow Moves from Saturn's Teutenberg to Arndt

In what was the most difficult of the Tour de L'Aude stages the competitors had yet faced, the Saturn Team successfully defended the Yellow Leader's Jersey, moving it from German to German. Having held the Jersey from day one, Saturn's Ina Teutenberg relinquished it to teammate Judith Arndt today in an excellent display of team strategy. In the end it was Figurella's Edita Pucinskaite winning the stage, climbing to the top of the leader's board, with her ride placing her in third in the overall.

The first climb of the stage was also the longest and the most challenging. The 12 kilometer ascent had narrow and steep sections until finally arriving to the top after 1700 meters of climbing. Saturn's Kristy Scrymgeour set a very hard tempo for the first 20 kilometers, keeping the attacks in check, until an attack from Finland's Pia Sundstedt blew the group to bits. It was Edita Pucinskaite, Valentina Polkanova and Arndt crossing the line of the first QOM at kilometer 44, with four minutes on the Yellow Jersey. Teutenberg was fighting hard to limit her losses with the aid of her teammate Petra Rossner. Once over the top the two teammates began a chase but in front the hammer was down with a motivated group heading toward the second major climb of the day.

By the second QOM Teutenberg and Rossner were there seven minutes from Pucinskaite, Polkanova and Arndt. However, without Teutenberg in the small group Arndt sat on the wheels allowing the two in her group set the hard pace. Behind her, Rossner and Teutenberg took every risk possible on the last descent to bring back three minutes and bringing back riders like Sunstedt, Melchers and Polikavitshute who were in between the lead group and the Yellow Jersey. Showing incredible determination, Rossner and Teutenberg never gave up, crossing the line four minutes behind winner Pucinskaite. Polkanova finished second. Arndt was third. Arndt now wears the Yellow Jersey. Teutenberg and her teammate's determination paid off with her slipping only into fourth in the overall with her tenth place finish today. She will wear the Green Points Jersey tomorrow. Rossner finished in fourteenth encouraging her Saturn teammate until the finish line was behind them.

Tomorrow stage from Quillan to Limoux, is 114 kilometers with three QOM sprints. Although the Yellow Jersey has exchanged hands, it has not left the Saturn stronghold, and they are determined to continue the fight for the honor of finishing the Tour de L'Aude in Yellow.

Stage 8: Quillan - Quillan, 120 km

1 Edita Pucinskaite (Ltu) Figurella Dream Team 3:36:00
2 Valentina Polkhanova (Rus) Itera Team at 0:01
3 Judith Arndt (Ger) Saturn
4 Sandrine Marcuz (Fra) French National Team 3:03
5 Rasa Polikeviciute (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team
6 Heidi Van De Vijver (Bel) Vlaanderen T Interim
7 Aline Camboulives (Fra) French National Team
8 Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Vlaanderen T Interim
9 Ina Yoko Teutenberg (Ger) Saturn 4:55
10 Jolanta Polikeviciute (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team

11 Jenny Algelid Bengtsson (Swe) Nurnberger Versicherung 4:58
12 Margaret Hemsley (Aus) Nurnberger Versicherung
13 Petra Rossner (Ger) Saturn 5:07
14 Svetlana Samokhvalova (Rus) Itera Team 5:39
15 Olivia Gollan (Aus) Australian National Team
16 Silvia Parietti (Ita) Figurella Dream Team
17 Lada Kozlikova (Cze) Czech Republic National Team
18 Tina Liebig (Ger) German National Team
19 Rhonda Quick (USA) Figurella Dream Team
20 Roberta Bonanomi (Ita) Figurella Dream Team
21 Pia Sundstedt (Fin) Figurella Dream Team 5:39
22 Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Team Farm-Frites Hartol
24 Magali Le Floc'h (Fra) French National Team
25 Leah Goldstein (Can) Canadian National Team all s.t.
34 Nicole Demars (Can) Canadian National Team 15:22
59 Catherine Marsal (Fra) Saturn 19:40
76 Gina Grain (Can) Canadian National Team 40:59
78 Sue Smith (Can) Canadian National Team
79 Kristy Scrymgeour (Aus) Saturn
81 Erin Carter (Can) Canadian National Team

GC

1 Judith Arndt (Ger) Saturn 19:12:19
2 Valentina Polkhanova (Rus) Itera Team at 1:08
3 Edita Pucinskaite (Ltu) Figurella Dream Team 1:16
4 Ina Yoko Teutenberg (Ger) Saturn 3:50
5 Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Vlaanderen T Interim 4:44
6 Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Team Farm-Frites Hartol 5:53
7 Sandrine Marcuz (Fra) French National Team 7:42
8 Jenny Algelid Bengtsson (Swe) Nurnberger Versicherung 7:45
9 Rasa Polikeviciute (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team 7:51
10 Aline Camboulives (Fra) French National Team 8:44

12 Jolanta Polikeviciute (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team 9:29
13 Leah Goldstein (Can) Canadian National Team 10:38
15 Magali Le Floc'h (Fra) French National Team 14:41
20 Pia Sundstedt (Fin) Figurella Dream Team 16:41
28 Petra Rossner (Ger) Saturn 25:00
29 Cindy Pieters (Bel) Vlaanderen T Interim 25:25
39 Catherine Marsal (Fra) Saturn 37:46
44 Nicole Demars (Can) Canadian National Team 40:26
53 Rhonda Quick (USA) Figurella Dream Team 50:04
59 Erin Carter (Can) Canadian National Team 1:07:37
76 Sue Smith (Can) Canadian National Team 1:44:2379 Gina Grain (Can) Canadian National Team 2:03:42
80 Kristy Scrymgeour (Aus) Saturn 2:24:31