Thüringen Rundfarht 2007

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The peloton rolled out under stormy conditions for the second stage of day 5. At 3km, Larissa Kleinmann (German National Team) attempted to attack but this was quickly closed down by the teams of Flexpoint, Bigla, T-Mobile and Équipe Nürnberger Versicherung. T-Mobile moved to the front of the peloton and set tempo as they reached 1 km to the first sprint competition point. Every second gained at the intermediate point sections, would have had an impact on the top 2 places on the general classification in this stage, therefore the teams of Judith Arndt (T-Mobile) and Amber Neben (Team Flexpoint) were very evident on the front.

At the first sprint Neben’s team mate Susanne Ljungskog jumped and took first place ahead of Arndt and Neben. Almost immediately there was a counter attack from Priska Doppmann (Raleigh Lifeforce Creation HB). She gained a maximum of 35 seconds over the next 10km, not managing to break free of the chasers.

As the peloton rode into the outskirts of Neukirchen, a massive storm hit. The temperatures plummeted and the rain hit sideways. Inches of water lay on the roads and the race moved at almost zero visibility. Doppmann’s lead was 30 seconds, and a very active group, were forming on the front of the chasers. This group included all of T-Mobile, Bigla, Équipe Nürnberger Versicherung and Team Flexpoint. It was at this point that the chief commissaire decided to stop the race. The conditions were becoming seriously dangerous; a few riders had minor crashes and despite the storm clearing the roads were extremely slippy. The peloton stood for a couple of minutes but this was enough time to get very cold and realise how wet they actually were.

The race was neutralised at the town of Meerance as the riders approached the biggest climb of the day. A 500m cobbled road that climbed for the most part at 18% and then kicked to 21% near the top. The part of the course was deemed to dangerous to ride at race pace and the peloton continued to be neutralised to the bottom of the decent. When it was restarted Doppmann was give a 30 second start. She did not manage to stay ahead for much longer though; within 10km she had been caught. 

Thankfully the sun broke through the clouds and the attacks started in earnest. At 67km Neben tried to attack, the top riders on general classification went with her and created a demolishing impact on the peloton. It split into 3 main groups and a number of stragglers. 15 riders jumped into the front group led by Arndt.  

As the peloton cornered into the main square of Schmölln to start the final lap, Arndt moved to the front to secure further sprint bonus points. She was followed by Trixi Worrack (Équipe Nürnberger Versicherung and Neben. This was the point at which Worrack jumped. By the time she was half way up the climb she had a 23 second advantage over Arndt. This increased to 53 seconds by the time she reached the finish line. In the sprint for second Arndt beat Noemi Cantele (Bigla Cycling Team), Neben was left to fight to the line for 4^th.  

In the count back of time bonuses Neben held a 2 second advantage over Arndt. Arndt secured enough points to take the sprint competition jersey from Emma Pooley (Team Specialised for Women) who held on to the Mountain competition jersey with a narrow lead of 4 points ahead of Arndt. The Young rider jersey remained on the shoulders of Wang Fei (Giant Bikes). She holds a 1 minute 10 second lead over Virginia Hennig (Team Getränke Hoffmann). The most aggressive rider jersey was presented to Doppmann for her efforts on the front.

Amber Neben (Team Flexpoint) secured the yellow jersey today after a fast time trial and a 4^th place on the stage. She commented on the race as she finished, “The course wasn’t too bad but the weather added a level of difficult. The time gaps being so small meant I had to chase the sprint bonuses and turn into a sprinter, which I’m not.  I’m not blessed with a lot of fast twitch muscles like Judith [Arndt] and Noemi [Cantele] so that was a little nervous for me.”. Neben was asked if the race being stopped and neutralised made it difficult for her she added, “It was unbelievable during the storm, I could only see about 10 meters in front of me and the wind and the rain, or it could have been hail made it really cold for a few minutes. When you stop you realized how cold you are and then your muscles start shivering. You then have to get them to open back up again as you get going. The first hard effort didn’t feel very good. Once we got rolling and we saw the sunshine I think everyone’s mentality was a little more positive, so that helped.

Trixi Worrack (Équipe Nürnberger Versicherung) rode strongly on the climbs and could not be matched when she attacked on the final hill to take the win. She reflected on the day. “It was hard today and very windy”. WCN asked if she would have preferred to race up the big climb rather than have it neutralised, Worrack added “It would have been a good chance to get some more time so I was a little disappointed when they neutralised the race at this point. It is always a good chance to break away but that’s how it goes”. Worrack was asked if it was hard to start the stage without Edita [Puckinskaite] who crashed in the time trial. Worrack added “It was very hard, we didn’t really know how she was, I hope she is ok. We were glad that we could win the stage for her”. 

Emma Pooley (Team Specialised for Women) crossed the line in 26^th place1 minute 10 seconds behind Arndt. WCN ask how difficult the day had been. “ Well, my jersey’s no longer white” said Pooley, looking down and the mud splattered Sprinters jersey. “It was pretty harsh out there today, but actually the rainier it is the more chance I had of staying with the leaders. When they stopped the race and neutralised it I was already in the front group which was great for me. I am happy I finished just behind the front bunch and that is what I wanted. I have held onto the mountains jersey, so I am very happy.”

Priska Doppmann (Raleigh Lifeforce Creation HB Team) rode strongly at the front for much of the race today and was awarded the ‘Most Aggressive Rider’ jersey as a reward for her efforts. She chatted about the last few days of racing, including the decision for the team not to defend the yellow, missing the break yesterday and her motivations for today. “It was a tactical decision not to defend the yellow jersey. I know a number of teams didn’t like the way we raced but we didn’t have a large number of real climbers and we would have dropped back on the stage anyway. The second and third spots were very close and if we have worked all day to defend the yellow, it would have come down to a sprint and either T-Mobile or Nürnberger would have won anyway and been in yellow. It was as much their responsibility to chase the attack as ours. They should not say ‘well its your responsibility, it was everyone’s who were in contention. There are 90 riders in the field and we can’t chase every break. We probably would have ended up 6 minutes down anyway due to the climbs and killing everyone to protect the jersey”.

“We thought that we would have a chance to get it back yesterday but we made a tactical error and missed the break. We only had one rider who managed to attack when the break went but she could not make contact. If we had managed to get onto the break the game would have started all over again. The worst thing for us is that we have no one in the break and that hurt us. It was just bad luck. Had we managed to get one in the break, it would have given us a chance today as we are all very strong time triallist”.

Doppmann was asked if the time trial result help to re-motivate the team, she added, “As you saw we nearly had the top 3 places this morning.  This was expected for the team and helped to make the sponsors happy. That was why we tried to do something this afternoon. I attacked and I wasn’t sure how far ahead I was. I didn’t get any time gaps and so it was hard to know where I was. I thought about the black jersey and that if I kept going I might have a chance to get it and get on the podium, especially I wanted to  redeem the team for the sponsors. I wasted energy for tomorrow but it was worth it. Our sponsors are important and I want to thank them for their support”.