23rd Tour de L’Aude Cycliste Feminin Stage 1 - 3
Judith Arndt leads the Women's classic. Marianne Vos collects two stage wins, Team Expresscopy.com tests their legs.

Bart Hazen

Judith Arndt (T-Mobile) leads after three stages in the Tour de L’Aude. The first three stages where won by twice Marianne Vos and T-Mobile in the TTT. Amber Neben and Edita Pucinskaite lost valuable time for the general ranking.

Stage 1: Port La Nouvelle – Port La Nouvelle, 115.5 Km
Marianne Vos (Team DSB Bank) won the first stage in the Tour de L’Aude from Port La Nouvelle to Port La Nouvelle over 115.5 km. The World Champion was the fastest in the bunch sprint ahead of Ina Yoko Teutenberg and Angela Brodtka. Marianne Vos, who celebrated her birthday last weekend, is also the new leader due to the bonus seconds.

During the stage there where various attacks, but the most serious break was one of 6 with the very talented Nicole Brändli. The stage was really nervous on the Cat.1 climb on the menu. Despite all these attacks a group of 70 riders came together near the finish. In the remaining kilometers of the stage attacks were discouraged and it ended in a field sprint.

Tomorrow the women have to do a 41.6 kilometer Team Time Trial in the Argeles Sur Mer region. The big favorites for the stage win will be Team Flexpoint and T-Mobile.

Team Expresscopy.com Stage 1 Report
Stage One of the Tour de l'Aude, the 115.5 km Port La Nouvelle road race gave riders and teams their first opportunity to stretch their legs against each other, rub shoulders and speculate on race tactics.

Team expresscopy.com came off the line firing on all cylinders and were by far the most aggressive team of the day, with Anne Samplonius leading the charge and expected to win Most Aggressive Rider of the Day. "I had good legs today," Anne said after the race, "it is great to be back riding in Europe and our plan for today was to get out there and shake it up a bit".

Our Meshy Holt placed second in a sprint, which also put her on the point's board. Heading into the last 20km the peloton was still together, Team expresscopy.com still attacking off the front. "Without our sprinter we had nothing to lose so Anne and I decided to keep pushing it," said Meshy Holt, "we aren't giving anything away".

As a result of their efforts the tempo remained high with the sprinters teams controlling the front, chasing down attacks and maneuvering for position for the final sprint. The stage ended in a big sprint finish

Result stage 1:
PORT LA NOUVELLE - PORT LA NOUVELLE
1 78 VOS Marianne DSB NED  3 00 54 10
2 10 TEUTENBERG Ina-Yoko TMP GER 3 00 54 6
3 62 BRODTKA Angéla GER GER 3 00 54 4
4 70 HENNES Tanja BCT GER 3 00 54 1
5 19 DOPPMAN Priska RLT SUI 3 00 54
6 21 KIESANOWSKI Joanne RLT NZL 3 00 54
7 85 MARTISSOVA Julia FRW RUS 3 00 54 2
8 13 BECKER Charlotte NUR GER 3 00 54
9 40 KOZONCHUK Oxana FEN RUS Esp 3 00 54
10 42 SLYUSAREVA Olga FEN RUS 3 00 54
11 2 GUNNEWILJK Loes FLX NED 3 00 54
12 103 TUSLAITE Daiva LTU LTU Esp 3 00 54
13 35 RASMUSSEN Dorte Lohse MSG DEN 3 00 54
14 52 MENG Lang GPC CHN 3 00 54
15 83 SAMPLONIUS Anne ECC CAN 3 00 54
16 90 SHARAKOVA Tatsiana FRW BLR Esp 3 00 54 3
17 20 DÜSTER Sarah RLT GER 3 00 54
18 55 VAN DIJK Ellen NED NED Esp 3 00 54
19 34 OKI Miho MSG JPN 3 00 54
20 32 CORNEO Sigrid MSG ITA 3 00 54
Full Results

General Classification after Stage 1
1 78 VOS Marianne DSB 3 5 37
2 22 SOEDER Christiane RLT à 0
3 65 KUPFERNAGEL Hanka GER à 5
4 55 VAN DIJK Ellen NED à 5
5 72 ZABIROVA Zoulfia BCT à 8
6 8 ARNDT Judith TMP à 9
7 66 SONTHEIMER Alexandra GER à 9
8 71 THURIG Andrea BCT à 10
9 11 VILLUMSEN Linda TMP à 10
10 10 TEUTENBERG Ina-Yoko TMP à 11
11 1 NEBEN Amber FLX à 12
12 13 BECKER Charlotte NUR à 13
13 4 LJUNGSKOG Susanne FLX à 13
14 19 DOPPMAN Priska RLT à 14
15 20 DÜSTER Sarah RLT à 15
16 18 WORRACK Trixi NUR à 16
17 21 KIESANOWSKI Joanne RLT à 16
18 17 PUCINSKAITE Edita NUR à 16
19 14 GRAUS Andrea NUR à 17
20 25 SALVETAT Maryline FRA à 19
Full Results

Stage 2: Argeles Sur Mer (TTT), 41.6 km
The German T-Mobile team won the 41.6 Km Team Time Trial in Argeles Sur Mer. T-Mobile was 6 seconds faster than Team Flexpoint and 33 sec. faster than Equipe Nürnberger. Judith Arndt (T-Mobile) is the new overall leader.

Team Expresscopy.com Report
Not such a great result but still a great day for the Team! In less than ideal conditions Team expresscopy.com performed well as a team in their first Team Time Trial.

Despite losing half the team when two riders deviated from the course T-Mobile flew through the Team Time Trial today in Stage Two of the Tour de l'Aude taking first place, closely followed by Flexpoint in second and Nurenberger in third. As a result Marianne Vos is no longer wearing the yellow jersey.

As the first Team Time Trial Team our team has entered together, the flat power course in Argeles sur Mer certainly did not favor the riders who placed 13th out of the 19 teams, in itself a fantastic showing considering only two of the riders Meshy Holt and Anne Samplonius have ever competed in a team time trial before.

The technical course featured a total of 19 roundabouts, "The first 10km were really technical", said Jeff Alexander, D.S., "and once they got through that the girls were heading straight into a headwind, I am really pleased with them, they ride very well as a team".

Team expresscopy.com finished with four riders crossing the line, Meshy Holt, Anne Samplonius, Jessica Phillips and Amanda Shaw. "It was really tough", commented Jessica, "It took us the first 5km to work out the roundabouts!!".

For all those Canadian and Americans reading: Roundabout - definition, "roundabout" or "rotary" is a type of road junction (or traffic calming device) at which traffic streams around a central island, after first yielding (giving way) to the circulating traffic.

Bring on tomorrow!!!

Result stage 2
1 T-Mobile Women 55.43
2 Team Flexpoint 0.06
3 Nurnberger Versicherung 0.33
4 Raleigh Lifeforce Creation HB 0.47
5 Bigla Cycling Team 0.48
6 Germany 1.50
7 France 2.26
8 Fenixs -HPB 2.43
9 Team DSB Bank 2.46
10 Menikini-Selle Italia-Gysko 3.50
11 Netherlands 4.04
12 A.S Team F.R.W 4.58
13 Team Expresscopy.Com 5.30
14 Lithuania 5.58
15 New Zealand 6.56
16 Comunidad Valenciana 7.16
17 Global Racing Team 7.47
18 Les Pruneaux D'agen 7.48
19 Giant Pro Cycling 8.35

General Classification after stage 2
ARGELES sur MER - ARGELES sur MER
1 8 ARNDT Judith TMP 4 1 29
2 11 VILLUMSEN Linda TMP à 1
3 1 NEBEN Amber FLX à 9
4 4 LJUNGSKOG Susanne FLX à 10
5 7 ANDERSON Kim TMP à 18
6 5 SANDIG Madeleine FLX à 21
7 2 GUNNEWILJK Loes FLX à 21
8 22 SOEDER Christiane RLT à 31
9 3 KELLER Luise FLX à 33
10 13 BECKER Charlotte NUR à 34
11 18 WORRACK Trixi NUR à 37
12 17 PUCINSKAITE Edita NUR à 37
13 14 GRAUS Andrea NUR à 38
14 19 DOPPMAN Priska RLT à 45
15 20 DÜSTER Sarah RLT à 46
16 21 KIESANOWSKI Joanne RLT à 47
17 72 ZABIROVA Zoulfia BCT à 47
18 71 THURIG Andrea BCT à 49
19 65 KUPFERNAGEL Hanka GER à 56
20 68 BRANDLI Nicole BCT à 59
21 66 SONTHEIMER Alexandra GER à 1 0
22 24 SLATER Tanja RLT à 1 2
23 78 VOS Marianne DSB à 1 6
24 25 SALVETAT Maryline FRA à 1 15
25 55 VAN DIJK Ellen NED à 1 21
26 26 GAUTARD Karine FRA à 1 23
27 27 JAUNATRE Marina FRA à 1 24
28 73 BOSMAN Andrea DSB à 1 29
29 61 SANDIG Fabienne GER à 1 30
30 9 DE GOEDE Suzanne TMP à 1 30
Full Results

Stage 3: Lezignan Corbières - Lezignan Corbières , 122 km
The 3rd stage in the Tour de L’Aude was one over 122 km between Lezignan Corbieres and Lezignan Corbieres. In this stage the peloton broke up into several parts. The first part of the bunch contained all the favorites except of Tour de Berne winner Edita Pucinskaite, twice Tour de L’Aude winner Amber Neben and T-Mobile sprinter Ina Yoko Teutenberg.

The first parts of the bunch consist of 45 riders. The stage ended up in a sprint and it was World Champion Marianne Vos who took the victory. For Vos it’s her 2nd stage win this Tour. Angela Brodtka was 2nd and Marina Jaunatre 3rd.

The 2nd bunch with Neben, Pucinskaite and Teutenberg lost 1.46. Due to this there chances for a good GC are for 90% gone. Judith Arndt remains in the overall lead with 1 sec. on her team mate Linda Villumsen and 10 sec. on Susanne Ljungskog.

23rd Tour de L’Aude Cycliste Feminin Stage 3
122 km 37,729 kmh
1 78 VOS Marianne DSB 3 14 1 10
2 62 BRODTKA Angéla GER à 0 6
3 27 JAUNATRE Marina FRA à 0 4
4 21 KIESANOWSKI Joanne RLT à 0 3
5 70 HENNES Tanja BCT à 0 3
6 65 KUPFERNAGEL Hanka GER à 0
7 64 KASPER Romy GER à 0
8 37 BUBNENKOVA Svetlana FEN à 0
9 85 MARTISSOVA Julia FRW à 0 2
10 73 BOSMAN Andrea DSB à 0
11 9 DE GOEDE Suzanne TMP à 0
12 4 LJUNGSKOG Susanne FLX à 0
13 2 GUNNEWILJK Loes FLX à 0
14 19 DOPPMAN Priska RLT à 0
15 20 DÜSTER Sarah RLT à 0
16 58 VAN DEN BRAND Daphn NED à 0
17 40 KOZONCHUK Oxana FEN à 0
18 87 KUCHINSKAYA Eléna FRW à 0
19 103 TUSLAITE Daiva LTU à 0
20 32 CORNEO Sigrid MSG à 0
Full Result

Ranking after stage 3:
1 8 ARNDT Judith TMP 7 15 30
2 11 VILLUMSEN Linda TMP à 1
3 4 LJUNGSKOG Susanne FLX à 10
4 7 ANDERSON Kim TMP à 18
5 2 GUNNEWILJK Loes FLX à 21
6 13 BECKER Charlotte NUR à 34
7 18 WORRACK Trixi NUR à 37
8 21 KIESANOWSKI Joanne RLT à 44
9 19 DOPPMAN Priska RLT à 45
10 20 DÜSTER Sarah RLT à 46
11 72 ZABIROVA Zoulfia BCT à 54
12 71 THURIG Andrea BCT à 55
13 78 VOS Marianne DSB à 56
14 65 KUPFERNAGEL Hanka GER à 56
15 68 BRANDLI Nicole BCT à 59
16 66 SONTHEIMER Alexandra GER à 1 7
17 27 JAUNATRE Marina FRA à 1 20
18 73 BOSMAN Andrea DSB à 1 29
19 9 DE GOEDE Suzanne TMP à 1 30
20 37 BUBNENKOVA Svetlana FEN à 1 32
Full Result