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Thüringen Rundfahrt, 2009

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Fabiana Luperini (Selle Italia Ghezzi) was a worthy and very happy winner of the final stage of the 2009 Thüringen Rundfahrt. Reflecting on the stage, Luperini said, “I found the whole tour very hard. My form is not that good at the moment. I have been getting better all week and today I felt good. I hope to be in super condition for the Tour of Toscana, because I live in Tuscany and the World Championships.” Luperini will rest during August to be ready for the final races of the season.

Linda Villumsen (Columbia HTC) was a very happy and humble winner of the over all, “When the break went today, we were happy to let it go as there was not one that was high on GC. It was quite relaxing until the attacks started at 5km. The whole team moved to the front to cover the moves and it was really, really good. This is the first time I have actually finished Thüringen, so to win is pretty cool,” said Villumsen.  

Monica Holler (Bigla) is a normally known for her sprinting but the final stage turned her into a climber. Holler was at the front of the break when it broke and managed to hold on for second. “It was a hard day. It was a long breakaway. We had to work so hard in the end to try to stay away. When Luperini attacked I was really dead, but we got to the finish in the end, I am happy and it has been a good tour, it did not start well but it has got better and better each day” said Holler.

Petra Dijkman (Red Sun cycling) followed the attack from Luperini on the final climb but suffered a mechanical, “I did not think the break would hold or that I could go into the lead but I really wanted the stage win. When Luperini attacked I could not hold the wheel and then on the down hill my gears jammed and I had to finish the stage on one gear. It was really hard. I am really happy to be third,” said Dijkman.

Tina Liebig (DSB Bank) was very happy to have won the Mountain jersey over all and to be presented with the Amy Gillett award for 2009. “I am very happy to have kept this today. It was such a hard race and everyone is happy that it is over. It was good that it did not rain and it was a hot day today and it was nice for the last stage," said Liebig. On receiving the Amy Gillett award, Liebig was very surprised and very flattered to have been awarded the prize. “I am very surprised and very pound to be awarded this. I tried to work for my team and to win the Mountain jersey and be recognised with this award for doing that, so I am very happy,” added Liebig.

Marianne Vos (DSB Bank) was a little disappointed not to be in yellow but very pleased with the Sprinters and Young riders jerseys. “It was hot today and I was very tired after yesterday’s stage and the time trial. I was happy that I could stay in the bunch. I am very happy, I finished second on the general classification, of course it was the plan to try to win the tour but second was the best possible and two jerseys and a stage win, I could not be happier. We are the best team too and the Mountain jersey so it has been a good week,” said Vos.  

Susanne Ljungskog (Team Flexpoint) finished third over all and had mixed feeling about the tour, “It has been a heavy tour, I can feel my legs now. I am happy to sleep in the car on the way back to Denmark then onto Sweden tomorrow. I am looking forward to next week to racing in my home country,” said Ljungskog.

Petra Rossner (Director, Team Columbia HTC) is tactically one of the best Directors in the Women’s peloton. Winning Thüringen for the third year in a row is a major achievement and testament to the direction and depth of the squad. “My knowledge of the race really helped. Most people would have panicked with 7 minutes 30 away. I knew that the last 20km was going to be really hard and that the actual bike race would start there. Others started to attack Linda [Villumsen] but the break had been away for 110km, so I knew they must be tired and that we could easily take 3 minutes in the 20km left and we did, so it worked out,” said Rossner  reflecting on the week,

Rossner added, “It is incredible to win this tour for the third time in a row. I am very proud of the girls and we had so much bad luck this year. With three broken bones this year for Judith Arndt, who won here two times in a row was extra pressure on the team. Then Emilia [Fahlin] crashed on stage 1, that put pressure on the team but they pulled through and I am very happy.”

"It was a really important victory both for Linda and Columbia-HTC," said Rossner.  "Thuringen is one of the hardest stage races of the season, just one hilly day after another with nowhere flat to recover, and Linda and the team had to dig deep to defend her lead.  We lost Emilia Fahlin early on in the race, because she crashed out and hurt her knee, which stretched us a bit more because we were down to five riders."

After Villumsen took the lead with a solo attack on stage three, Rossner said Saturday's hilly stage put the team under a lot of pressure - but they responded well. "Yesterday [Saturday] was the most complicated day of all.  The attacks kept on coming from all sides, and Linda's advantage overall finally dropped from 1 minute 49 seconds to just 30 seconds.  But she seems to be getting more and more sure of herself, and here in Thuringen she's taken another huge step up in stage racing. At the same time, [team-mate] Kim Anderson did a great job acting as captain on the road whenever I had to follow breaks ahead.  And for the whole squad it was important to win because we've not had Judith [Arndt] or Ina [Yoko-Teutenberg] here. But the others really showed their own strength, too," added Rossner.  "Personally, I've rarely seen anything like the way this team rode here in Thuringen. They were amazing."

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