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The Rund am die Nürnberger Altstadt finished, as predicted with a bunch sprint. On a warm day in the sun, the bunch allowed a couple of breaks to go away, but brought each back, including a long solo break by Emma Johansson (Panda Software Bizkaia) which looked like it might succeed at one point.

Emmanuela Azzini (Nobili) managed to gain a small advantage at about mid-race, but she was brought back by the bunch. A lap later (from 9 in total), Univega team-mate to the World Cup series winner, Nicole Cooke, Priska Doppmann went away and stayed away for 2 laps, until going back into the chasing group. 

With 2 laps to go, Emma Johansson (Panda Software, Bizkaia) got away and managed to stay away well into the final lap. A crash in the bunch just before the start - finish line with 1 lap to go helped her chances - teams waited for their riders who had been caught up in the mayhem. Johansson looked with 3km to go that she might just manage to pull off a solo victory. However, she was swallowed by the fast chasing pack, which caught her in the last couple of kilometres.

The sprint was won by Regina Schleicher, who overtook T-Mobile's Ina-Yoko Teutenberg in the last 50m. Schleicher was a popular winner - she rides for Équipe Nürnberger, sponsored by the insurance company based in this, the race town and with the same name.

There were changes in the World Cup hierarchy; although Cooke was unsurpassable, the double points on offer catapulted Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (T-Mobile) and Annette Beutler (Buitenpoort-Flexpoint) above their respective team-mates, Judith Arndt and Susanne Ljungskog. Arndt worked for Teutenberg in the race and Ljungskog was not present.

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Results

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Final Rankings