5th June 2011:
GP Ciudad de Valladolid, Spain
Therme Kasseienomloop Exloo, Netherlands
Liberty Classic, USA
After a few weeks without much in the way of racing, the women's cycling calendar is back up and running. We're about to get into the stage race part of the season, but to warm up, three great race, all on the same day!
So what happened where? Follow me below the jump, and I'll give you results, links and in the comments, if we find any, hopefully some video and anything else that turns up!
GP Ciudad de Valladolid - Road World Cup, VDS 2
The biggest race of the day was Valladolid, the 6th round of the Road World Cup. There are maps of the course and a race preview on CyclingFever - but basically, it was one large, fairly hilly loop of 90.1km, followed by five laps of a 6.6km city centre circuit.
The first part of the race was kept under control - although Alna Burato from the French National Team made a solo escape attempt, and managed stay away for 20km, gaining 50 seconds, she was soon caught. The peloton was all together when they reached Valladolid, and started on the laps. Of course, they wouldn't stay that way for long...
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (HTC) was the first rider to make an escape attempt, on the second lap - but although she gained 10 seconds, that wasn't going to be allowed to stay, and she was caught. On the third lap, Shara Gillow (Aus) and Fabiana Luperini (MCipollini-Giambenini) had a turn, but they were caught after only 2 kilmetres.
By the last 25km of the race, the peloton was split up into three groups, with 20 riders consistently at the front, and the groups splitting and re-forming. At the last lap, 30 riders were together, but leading the chase down was Nederland Bloeit's Marianne Vos and Annemiek van Vleuten. These two riders have had a spectacular World Cup season, passing the series jersey back and forth between them - but they were caught in a crash on the penultimate lap, and had to chase to get back to the front group (Read Van Vleuten's account of the crash on her blog). Vos, it turns out, had crashed earlier in the race, and needed a bike change at one point, so it looked like there could be an upset at the series....
The last lap, then, was super-exciting. At the start, Vos and Van Vleuten were 6 seconds behind - but Vos bridged back - and at 3km to go, was part of an 8-rider group who escaped off the front. She started her sprint early.... and won the race!
1. Marianne Vos (Ned) Nederland Bloeit, 3:16:17
2. Rossella Callovi (Ita) MCipollini-Giambenini, s.t.
3. Emma Johansson (Swe) Hitec Products UCK, s.t.
4. Judith Arndt (Ger) HTC-Highroad, s.t.
5. Noemi Cantele (Ita) Garmin-Cervélo, s.t.
6. Lizzie Armitstead (GBr) Garmin-Cervélo, s.t.
7. Elena Berlato (Ita) TopGirls Fassa Bortolo, + 0:07
8. Maaike Polspoel (Bel) TopSport Vlaanderen, s.t.
9. Linda Villumsen (NZl) AA Drink-Leontien.nl, + 0:16
10. Charlotte Becker (Ger) HTC-Highroad, + 0:25
11. Chantal Blaak (Ned) AA Drink-Leontien.nl, s.t.
12. Anna-Bianca Schnitzmeier (Ger) ABUS-Nutixxion, s.t.
13. Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Nederland Bloeit, s.t.
14. Grace Verbeke (Bel) TopSport Vlaanderen, s.t.
15. Martine Bras (Ned) Netherlands National Team, s.t.
16. Polona Batagelj (Slo) Bizkaia-Durango, s.t.
17. Christel Ferrier-Bruneau (Fra) Gauss, s.t.
18. Trixi Worrack (Ger) AA Drink-Leontien.nl, s.t.
19. Irene van den Broek (Ned) AA Drink-Leontien.nl, s.t.
20. Fabiana Luperini (Ita) MCipollini-Giambenini, s.t.
Vos' win takes her, once again, into first place in the Road World Cup Standings - impressive, given she missed two races this season. Here's the top 10:
1. Marianne Vos (Ned) Nederland Bloeit, 260 points
2. Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Nederland Bloeit, 196
3. Emma Johansson (Swe) Hitec Products UCK, 187
4. Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (Ger) HTC-Highroad, 113
5. Judith Arndt (Ger) HTC-Highroad, 113
6. Emma Pooley (GBr) Garmin-Cervélo, 86
7. Lizzie Armitstead (GBr) Garmin-Cervélo, 85
8. Martine Bras (Ned) Netherlands National Team, 82
9. Tatiana Antoshina (Rus) Gauss, 66
10. Elena Berlato (Ita) TopGirls Fassa Bortolo, 62
Therme Kasseienomloop Exloo, VDS 5
Over in the Netherlands, it was a cobbled race, full of crashes, punctures and drama. There's less information about this race so far, but it ended in a bunch sprint, and Luxembourg National Champion Christine Majerus took the win - and the photo here makes it look easy!
1. Christine Majerus (Lux) GSD Gestion, 3:17:24
2. Liesbet de Vocht (Bel) TopSport Vlaanderen, s.t.
3. Martina Zwink (Ger) ABUS-Nutixxion, s.t.
4. Nathalie Lamborelle (Lux) ABUS-Nutixxion, s.t.
5. Sofie de Vuyst (Bel) Lotto-Honda, s.t.
6. Natalie van Gogh (Ned) Specialized-DPD Pakketservice, s.t.
7. Roxane Knetemann (Ned) Skil-Koga, s.t.
8. Evelyn Arys (Bel) Sengers, s.t.
9. Anne Aernouts (Bel) Dura Vermeer, s.t.
10. Kirsten Peetoom (Ned) Moving Ladies, s.t.
Liberty Classic, UCI 1.1, VDS 4
The final race of the day was in the USA. Lex Albrecht (Juvederm) made an early escape, and gained up to two minutes on the peloton - but as the race approached the fourth and final lap, her gap was being eaten up, until it was only 15 seconds as they started the lap. She struggled to stay away, and it looked like the race could come down to the final climb of the Manayunk Wall. Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli had played a strong part in chasing the break, but HTC-Highroad took over all the work, catching Albrecht before the final climb.
Eight riders escaped on the climb, but were caught on the descent, leaving the race all together at 10km to go. HTC, Colavita and Diadora-Pasta Zara were all on the front, angling for a bunch sprint - and despite attack attempts, that's what happened. World Champion Giorgia Bronzini demonstrated her sprint skills, crossing the line a bike length ahead of Shelley Olds.
(Thanks to Manel Lacambra, the race twitter & Kirsten Frattini who were tweeting all the info I used!)
1. Giorgia Bronzini (Ita) Colavita-Forno d'Asolo, 2:28:28
2. Shelley Olds (USA) Diadora-Pasta Zara, s.t.
3. Jennifer Purcell (USA) Team Danbury Audi, s.t.
4. Joelle Numainville (Can) Tibco To The Top, s.t.
5. Chloe Hosking (Aus) HTC-Highroad, s.t.
6. Joanne Kiesanowski (NZl) Tibco To The Top, s.t.
7. Christina Gokey-Smith (USA) Now and Novartis for MS, s.t.
8. Laura Van Gilder (USA) Mellow Mushroom, s.t.
9. Theresa Cliff-Ryan (USA) Colavita-Forno d'Asolo, s.t.
10. Barbara Guarischi (Ita) Colavita-Forno d'Asolo, s.t.
11. Liza Rachetto (USA) Team Danbury Audi, s.t.
12. Kate Chilcott (NZl) CRCA, s.t.
13. Couteney Loew (NZl) CRCA, s.t.
14. Joanie Caron (Can) Juvedern-Specialized, s.t.
15. Catherine Cheatley (NZl) Colavita-Forno d'Asolo, s.t.
Spare a thought for Diadora-Pasta Zara's Mara Abbott, who couldn't start the race due to concussion from a crash in training. It sounds very scary - she was found standing by the side of the road by an old friend, with no memory of what had happened. I hope it's not serious, and everything is well with her very soon.
There's a lack of photos and info from today's races so far - but anything you found, please please add it to the comments!