July 24, 2008 (Germany) – Here is a brief report of the Canadian women’s team road after Stage 3, Rund um Greiz, 104.5km, at the Thuringen Internationale (UCI 2.1) in Germany. The stage race began on Tuesday, July 22 and ends this coming Sunday, July 27 and includes five road stages and an ITT.

The main objective of the team is to provide adequate preparation for our women athletes who will represent Canada at the next Olympics in Beijing, including Leigh Hobson, Alex Wrubleski, and Erinne Willock. Wrubleski and Willock are riding with their trade team, Webcor cycling team here. The level at this event in Germany is very high and will allow our athletes to finalize their preparation for the Games. Several top athletes that will compete in Beijing are also competing at this event including Marianne Vos, Judith Arndt and Hanka Kupfernagel, to mention a few.

The other rider here with the Canadian team are Felicia Gomez (substitute for the Olympic team), Julie Beveridge, Alison Testroete, Heather Logan and Karol-Ann Canuel. This project represents a great development opportunity for these riders, and the chance to rub shoulders with our Olympic athletes and to learn from them.

The race profile in Thuringen is very hilly and the wind has been omnipresent since the beginning of the tour while some cobblestone sections add to the difficulty of the course.

The first stage (Schleusingen-Schleusingen), 61.6 km long, took place under the summer sun and the 90 riders were ready to contest this first short stage and there were several attempts to escape. The most dangerous attacke took place towards the end with a dozen riders including Webcor’s Erinne Willock. However, Vos’s team, DSB Bank, worked hard to reel in the breakaway and was able to set the stage for the win by one of their riders, Angela Hennig. Wrubleski was the best Canadian finishing 11th. The Canadian team’s strategy was to target the best climber and of the three mountain sprints Gomez was 2nd in GPM #1 and 3rd in GPM #2.

The second stage (Gera-Gera), 111.2 km, featured lots of action again. A breakaway group of 11 riders, including several favorites – Arndt, Kupfernagel and Goede – took shape at the beginning of the stage and the gap rose to more than a minute. But the peloton reacted quickly to catch to the break. In the end Priska Doppmann (Cervelo Lifeforce) attacked with less than 20km to go and grabbed the victory and the leader’s jersey. The top Canadian again was Wrubleski in 15th, with and very good performance by Heather Logan who finished 41st with the same time as the peloton. Logan is in only her second year and this is her first European project with the national team. Once again, the Canadian team moved closer to its goal with Gomez who won the first mountain sprint and following Stage 2 she’s 2nd overall, one point behind Germany’s Trixi Worrack (Team Nürnberger Versicherung).

Today’s 3rd stage on Thursday, July 24, was a 104.7km circuit which left the town of Greiz and ended in the same city. The course was more rugged with several successive climbs. Several riders, including Kimberly Anderson (Columbia), Karin Thürig (Cervelo Lifeforce) and Noemi Cantele (Bigla) quickly established a gap of more than 2 minutes on the peloton. Cantele finally broke away from the group with less than 15km to go take the victory. The best Canadian was Willock in 23rd while Gomez seized the mountain classification jersey thanks to placing 1st on GPM #1.

Tomorrow, the tour moves through the city of Schleiz for a 125.2km route, the second longest stage, with no less than five mountain Gran Prix. Saturday features the 18.2 km ITT in the city of Schmölln, and finally the tour ends on Sunday with the longest stage, a 126.4km route in the town of Zeulenroda.

Results

1. Noemi Cantele (Ita) Bigla Cycling Team 2:57:34 (35.749 km/h)
2. Emma Johansson (Swe) Swedish National Team 0:47
3. Kimberly Anderson (USA) Team Columbia Women
4. Martina Corazza (Ita) Gauss RDZ Ormu
5. Carla Ryan (Aus) Cervelo Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team
6. Judith Arndt (Ger) Team Columbia Women
7. Grete Treier (Est) Gauss RDZ Ormu
8. Trixi Worrack (Ger) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 0:52
9. Christiane Soeder (Aut) Cervelo Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team
10. Karin Thürig (Swi) Cervelo Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team 1:37

23. Erinne Willock (Can) Webcor Builders Cycling Team 2:21
26. Leigh Hobson (Can) Canadian National Team
39. Julie Beveridge (Can) Canadian National Team 2:30
41. Felicia Gomez (Can) Canadian National Team
44. Alex Wrubleski (Can) Webcor Builders Cycling Team
45. Alison Testroete (Can) Canadian National Team
69. Heather Logan (Can) Canadian National Team 18:07
84. Karol-Ann Canuel (Can) Canadian National Team 23:00

Mountains

KoM #1
1. Felicia Gomez (Can) Canadian National Team 3 pts
2. Claudia Häusler (Ger) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 2
3. Carla Ryan (Aus) Cervelo Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team 1

KoM #2
1. Noemi Cantele (Ita) Bigla Cycling Team 5 pts
2. Karin Thürig (Swi) Cervelo Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team 3
3. Emma Johansson (Swe) Swedish National Team 2

KoM #3
1. Noemi Cantele (Ita) Bigla Cycling Team 3 pts
2. Carla Ryan (Aus) Cervelo Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team 2
3. Emma Johansson (Swe) Swedish National Team 1

GC after Stage 3

1. Noemi Cantele (Ita) Bigla Cycling Team 7:18:33
2. Emma Johansson (Swe) Swedish National Team 0:52
3. Judith Arndt (Ger) Team Columbia Women 1:08
4. Grete Treier (Est) Gauss RDZ Ormu 1:09
5. Martina Corazza (Ita) Gauss RDZ Ormu 1:14
6. Kimberly Anderson (USA) Team Columbia Women 1:15
7. Trixi Worrack (Ger) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 1:19
8. Carla Ryan (Aus) Cervelo Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team
9. Christiane Soeder (Aut) Cervelo Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team 1:24
10. Karin Thürig (Swi) Cervelo Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team 2:04

24. Alex Wrubleski (Can) Webcor Builders Cycling Team 2:52
25. Oxana Kozonchuk (Rus) Menikini – Selle Italia
26. Erinne Willock (Can) Webcor Builders Cycling Team 2:53
29. Leigh Hobson (Can) Canadian National Team
39. Felicia Gomez (Can) Canadian National Team 3:02
40. Julie Beveridge (Can) Canadian National Team
64. Elke Gebhardt (Ger) Mix-Team Rothaus – Rügenfisch 22:11
65. Alison Testroete (Can) Canadian National Team 22:20
69. Heather Logan (Can) Canadian National Team 24:13:00
84. Karol-Ann Canuel (Can) Canadian National Team 54:36:00

Mountain Classification

1. Felicia Gomez (Can) Canadian National Team 11 pts
2. Trixi Worrack (Ger) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 9
3. Noemi Cantele (Ita) Bigla Cycling Team 8
4. Karin Thürig (Swi) Cervelo Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team 8
5. Angela Hennig (Ger) Team DSB Bank 6
6. Claudia Häusler (Ger) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 5
7. Emma Johansson (Swe) Swedish National Team 3
8. Carla Ryan (Aus) Cervelo Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team 3
9. Judith Arndt (Ger) Team Columbia Women 3
10. Stephanie Pohl (Ger) German National Team 3
11. Elena Berlato (Ita) Safi – Pasta Zara Manhattan 3
12. Karin Aune (Swe) Swedish National Team 2
13. Christine Thorburn (USA) Webcor Builders Cycling Team 1