Race Writeup

With most of the attacks saved for the final 25km, the race stayed pretty much together through the first 95km of the race. It was not until mid-distance that the climbs were encountered, which caused some sore legs at the back of the bunch. Active at the front in the early kilometres, though were the sprinters. Tanja Hennes (Team Bigla) rode aggressively to protect her red sprinter's jersey. The competition was given extra impetus by the bonus seconds available which count towards the overall, General Classification.

The final selection for the stage came just after the last descent of the day. With 25km to go, a group broke away from the bunch and gained over a minute before the finish. There was no danger to the General Classification, most of the main contenders were in the breakaway. The lead in to Lezignan saw no further breaks and so the stage came down to a bunch sprint. 

There was no doubt that Marianne Vos (DSB Bank) had the legs to take this one. She sprinted in ahead of Angela Brodtka (Germany) and France's Marina Jaunâtre from the group of 33 riders.

Race leader, Judith Arndt was safe in the group and despite losing out on bonus seconds, maintained the race lead. Linda Villumsen maintains second place, 1 second behind, whilst Amber Neben slipped back to 1'55 seconds down - she was one of the riders who missed the break. Susanne Ljungskog's time gap (10 seconds) didn't change, so she moves into third.

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Post Race Comments

Marianne Vos :  "This is my first time at Tour de l'Aude. Its a big race and I didn't expect to do so well. Now I've got two stage wins"

Judith Arndt : "Of course I would like to win the overall, but its early. We will see in the big mountains if I'm strong enough"

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Results - Top 10 - click here to see full result

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General Classification Top 10 - click here to see full GC

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Photos   Click on any image to enlarge >>

 

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