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National Championships Roundup 2005 Many National Championship Road Titles will be decided this weekend. Australian Road titles were awarded in January - Lorian Graham was the first 2005 road race champion to be awarded her nation's medal and the coveted national colours jersey. By the end of the weekend, several other happy champions will be redesigning their usual team kit to incorporate their new status....... Click here to see latest additions >> (most recent first) Ireland Great Britain Germany Italy Ireland 52 miles / 84 km Irish racing is used to foreign-based riders taking victory over home-based competitors and 2005 was no exception. Siobahn Dervan, who is based in Belgium and rides for Lotto Ladies broke away with an individual effort and had plenty of time for a victory celebration as she crossed the line over a minute ahead of Trudy Brown and Louise Moriarty.
Nicole Cooke took her sixth British RR title on Saturday - using the famous Lance Armstrong '6 fingers / 6-shooter' (well, 4 fingers and two thumbs) salute, (which he used when he won his 6th Tour) as she crossed the line in front of Rachel Heal, the eternal second in recent contests, with Emma Davies third. The three continental-based pros rode to form, but were not the only riders in the break which went away early in the race. Cooke, Heal, Davies and Emma Pooley and Helen Wyman were not caught by the inevitable chase which formed when they went away on a climb. So, it was left to them to fight out the sprint finish.
With defending Champion, Petra Rossner, having retired at the end of 2004, the German title was up for grabs. Last year's silver medallist, Regina Schleicher, stepped up one place on the podium to take the Champion's jersey, whilst the bronze medal went to Angela Brodtka for at least the second year in a row. Schleicher rides for Équipe Nürnberger Versicherung - the team's Directeur Sportif is Rossner, so there is some continuity in the list of champions. Tanja Hennes, who rides for Mirjam Melchers van Poppel's Buitenpoort-Flexpoint team took the silver medal. The first 20 riders arrived at the finish together to contest the sprint.
Silvia Parretti is the new Italian Road Champion. On June 23rd, the race saw a small group of about 10 riders staying away from the bunch and achieving a maximum advantage of about 40 seconds. Parretti took the title with an explosive sprint to gain victory over her rivals. "This is the most important victory of my career." Parretti commented afterwards. "I dedicate this victory to my family, the team and those people close to me". The result is important to the Lazio team - this is its first elite women's championship it has won (it is a first, too, for Team Manager, Irons and Directeur Sportif Montini) Next event for Lazio is the women's Tour of Italy - the Giro Donne - which runs from July 1st through to July 10th. Silvia Parretti will be wearing her Italian Champion's jersey with pride. Italian Report Courtesy : Lazio Ciclismo Team Ladispoli
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