Arndt laps field en route to victory on day two of Santos Women’s Cup

First win of 2012 for German TT specialist

World time trial champion Judith Arndt clocked up her first victory for the GreenEdge AIS team on stage two of the Rendition Homes Santos Women’s Cup today, lapping the main field with a superb showing in Adelaide.

“There was a breakaway with two riders,” she said afterwards, explaining how things played out. “We had Amanda Spratt in it. The other rider was a girl from Jayco-AIS [Gracie Elvin]. After 20-25 minutes, I attacked out of the bunch and tried to bridge. Spratty sat up to allow me to get on. There were two of us and one other rider, so that was the perfect situation.”

The leading duo had worn themselves out while out front and soon afterwards, Arndt pulled ahead alone. She went into time trial mode and started building a strong lead from that point. She eventually reeled in the main field to lap then, while Elvin and Spratt held on for second.

Netting first and third in the race was a good result for the GreenEdge team, and made up for the missed opportunity on yesterday’s first stage. There was confusion then due to bells being rung in the crowd, with riders not realising that they were on the last lap.

Bec Werner (Specialized Women SA) won then, taking an early lead in the three-race series from Grace Sulzberger (Jayco-AIS) and Skye-Lee Armstrong (Sutherland Shire CC).

“It was good of the girls to turn things around so quickly,” explained directeur sportif Dave MacPartland, speaking about how the riders reacted for stage two. “They bounced back from yesterday. We talked last night and were able to take some positives away from our mistakes. They knew the important thing was to turn things around today, and they did that.”

Arndt got a lot of satisfaction from the victory, partly because she hasn’t trained as much as many of her Australian rivals. “I really killed myself. I’m not so good right now,” she said afterwards.

Those who she lapped might not agree. Still, on the basis of how she performed, it’s looking good for a big 2012.

The riders will now have a one day break from racing before the final leg of the Santos Women’s Cup series on Wednesday. It takes place in Hyde Park and will see ongoing leader Werner come under pressure from the rest of the field.

Rendition Homes Santos Women’s Cup:

1, Judith Arndt (GreenEdge-AIS)
2, Gracie Elvin (Jayco-AIS)
3, Amanda Spratt (GreenEdge-AIS)