2009 Thüringen Rundfahrt (2.1) - Stage 3

A courageous solo attack earned Columbia-HTC's Linda Villumsen both the stage win and the lead in the Thuringen Rundfahrt in Germany on Thursday. The Danish rider took off in heavy rainfall during the final hour's racing for an impressive lone victory in the 130-kilometre Rund um Schleiz stage.

"Linda did brilliantly. The bunch caught up with her once, but she just broke away again and kept going right to the finish," said team manager Petra Rossner. "She first went about 35 kilometers from the line, and that didn't work out. After that, she managed to go clear and had an advantage of about 24 seconds for quite some time. Then the gap suddenly lifted to 40 seconds and we realized she could move into the overall lead as well. The situation was very good for us because we had Kim [Anderson] and Luise [Keller] in the chase group behind. That made the other teams hesitate. So we kept on yelling 'go,go,go' to Linda form the team car and she finally made it to the finish line alone."

Rossner said later that Villumsen's victory was particularly pleasing because the team had been in the thick of the action for the first two days races, but had not taken any wins.

"We've been in the breaks, looking for success, and it hadn't worked out. So we had a team meeting this morning and decided we'd continue attacking regardless."

Rossner said Villumsen's first challenge as race leader will come on Friday, with a 23-kilometre time trial in Treibes.

"First she has to recover from today's big effort, and then we'll see what happens. But in any case, this was an amazing victory."

Cervelo comments: Düster moves into second GC position
"Today was once again a very hard day for the team. The course was very hilly and it was raining right from the beginning of the stage," said Sports Director Phillipe Mauduit. "Linda Villumsen attacked and after several attacks was able to stay ahead until the finish line. DSB Bank and Equipe Nurnberger tried to chase Villumsen down but they couldn't chase her back. In the last 5 km we attacked with Sarah Düster who was able to maintain a 14 second margin ahead of the Peloton to the race's end. Linda Villumsen ended up winning the stage, with Sarah placing second. Eva Lechner took third place winning the sprint of the group behind Düster. Linda Villumsen is now the new leader in the GC and Sarah Düster is second, 1 minute and 14 seconds behind."

Tomorrow there is a 23.1 km individual time trial at Treibes. This year the TT will climb the infamous Dörtendorfer mountain for the first time and this could be a deciding factor in the race. The 15 percent climb, which is known locally as the "Hankaberg" because it is close to the home of the local Thuringian Olympian, and former World Champion, Hanka Kupfernagel, will form a challenging aspect to the time trial.

Result
1. Villumsen Serup, Linda Team Columbia Highroad 3.34'43" 13"
2. Düster, Sarah Cervélo Test Team 3.36'05" 1'22" 8"
3. Lechner, Eva Gauss RDZ Ormu-Colnago 3.36'19" 1'36" 4"
4. Whitelaw, Vicki Vision 1 Racing 3.36'19" 1'36"
5. Leleivyte, Rasa Safi-Pasta Zara Titanedi 3.36'19" 1'36"
6. Vos, Marianne DSB Bank - Nederland Bloeit 3.36'19" 1'36" 4"
7. Johansson, Emma Red Sun Cycling Team 3.36'19" 1'36"
8. Andruk, Alona Safi-Pasta Zara Titanedi 3.36'22" 1'39"
9. Cilvinaite, Inga Safi-Pasta Zara Titanedi 3.36'22" 1'39"
10. Ljungskog, Susanne Team Flexpoint 3.36'22" 1'39"
11. van den Broek, Irene National Team Niederlande 3.36'22" 1'39"
12. Anderson, Kimberly Team Columbia Highroad 3.36'22" 1'39"
13. Pijnenborg, Mascha Red Sun Cycling Team 3.36'22" 1'39"
14. Worrack, Trixi Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 3.36'22" 1'39"
15. Patuzzo, Eleonora Safi-Pasta Zara Titanedi 3.36'22" 1'39"
16. De Goede, Suzanne Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 3.36'26" 1'43"
17. van der Merwe, Marissa MTN Energade Cycling Team 3.36'26" 1'43"
18. Purath, Bianca Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 3.36'28" 1'45"
19. Brändli, Nicole Bigla Cycling Team 3.36'28" 1'45"
20. Cantele, Noemi Bigla Cycling Team 3.36'28" 1'45"
21. Soeder, Christiane Cervélo Test Team 3.36'28" 1'45"
22. Ruzickova, Martina Team Uniqa-ELK 3.36'28" 1'45"
23. Bruins, Regina Cervélo Test Team 3.36'28" 1'45"
24. Melchers-van Poppel, Mirjam Team Flexpoint 3.36'28" 1'45"
25. Vilajosana Andreu, Marta Team CMAX DILA 3.36'28" 1'45"
26. Dijkman, Petra Red Sun Cycling Team 3.36'32" 1'49"
27. Keller, Luise Team Columbia Highroad Women 3.36'32" 1'49"
28. Liebig, Tina DSB Bank - Nederland Bloeit 3.36'34" 1'51"
29. Tamanini, Luisa Selle Italia Ghezzi 3.38'25" 3'42" 1" 20"
30. Pauliukaite, Svetlana Safi-Pasta Zara Titanedi 3.41'57" 7'14"

Ranking
1. Villumsen Serup, Linda Team Columbia Highroad 9.03'50"
2. Düster, Sarah Cervélo Test Team 9.05'04" 1'14"
3. Vos, Marianne DSB Bank - Nederland Bloeit 9.05'07" 1'17"
4. Johansson, Emma Red Sun Cycling Team 9.05'28" 1'38"
5. Leleivyte, Rasa Safi-Pasta Zara Titanedi 9.05'30" 1'40"
6. Worrack, Trixi Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 9.05'37" 1'47"
7. Lechner, Eva Gauss RDZ Ormu-Colnago 9.05'39" 1'49"
8. Whitelaw, Vicki Vision 1 Racing 9.05'43" 1'53"
9. Andruk, Alona Safi-Pasta Zara Titanedi 9.05'46" 1'56"
10. Cilvinaite, Inga Safi-Pasta Zara Titanedi 9.05'46" 1'56"
11. Ljungskog, Susanne Team Flexpoint 9.05'46" 1'56"
12. Pijnenborg, Mascha Red Sun Cycling Team 9.05'46" 1'56"
13. Cantele, Noemi Bigla Cycling Team 9.05'47" 1'57"
14. Anderson, Kimberly Team Columbia Highroad 9.05'54" 2'04"
15. van den Broek, Irene National Team Niederlande 9.05'55" 2'05"
16. Dijkman, Petra Red Sun Cycling Team 9.05'56" 2'06"
17. De Goede, Suzanne Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 9.05'59" 2'09"
18. Brändli, Nicole Bigla Cycling Team 9.06'01" 2'11"
19. Soeder, Christiane Cervélo Test Team 9.06'01" 2'11"
20. Patuzzo, Eleonora Safi-Pasta Zara Titanedi 9.06'07" 2'17"
21. Keller, Luise Team Columbia Highroad 9.06'11" 2'21"
22. Melchers-van Poppel, Mirjam Team Flexpoint 9.06'18" 2'28"
23. Liebig, Tina DSB Bank - Nederland Bloeit 9.06'23" 2'33"
24. Tamanini, Luisa Selle Italia Ghezzi 9.07'13" 3'23"
25. Bruins, Regina Cervélo Test Team 9.07'30" 3'40"
26. van der Merwe, Marissa MTN Energade Cycling Team 9.07'31" 3'41"
27. Purath, Bianca Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 9.07'33" 3'43"
28. Ruzickova, Martina Team Uniqa-ELK 9.07'33" 3'43"
29. Vilajosana Andreu, Marta Team CMAX DILA 9.07'39" 3'49"
30. Verhoeven, Aurore Vision 1 Racing 9.11'21" 7'31"

Full result

Remaining stages
Stage 4: Rund um Triebes (ITT), 23,1 km
Stage 5: Rund um Schmölln, 115,8 km
Stage 6: Rund um Greiz, 118 km

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