German champion moves up to second overall as the peloton is decimated on the climbs of Boise county
After being forced to settle for second on the sprinters stage in Nampa two days before, Ina Teutenberg (Specialized-lululemon) won the mountain stage of the Exergy Tour, between Crouch and Idaho City, at the head of a peloton reduced to just 35 riders. The German champion was the only one of the top-level sprinters to make the final selection, and beat 21-year-old Canadian Leah Kirchmann (Optum Pro Cycling) in the dash for the line. Redlands winner Megan Guarnier (Tibco-To The Top) was third at the end of the 93km stage.
“It was a hard day for me,” said Teutenberg afterwards. “I was suffering for 80% of the day.
“Leah also made the sprint really hard. It was a drag race for a while so I was happy to get around her and win the stage.”
The stage was characterised by an eight-rider break, which escaped on the first climb of the day to Beaver Creek. In the break were Trixi Worrack (Specialized-lululemon), Tiffany Cromwell (Orica-GreenEdge), Janel Holcomb (Optum Pro Cycling), Fabiana Luperini (Faren-Honda), Rachel Neylan (ABUS-Nutrixxion), Lindsay Myers (Tibco-To The Top), Kristin McGrath (Exergy Twenty12), and Sari Saarelainen (Forno D’Asolo-Colavita.
Saarelainen and Neylan were dropped on the climb however, but the remaining six were clear as they crossed the summit of the climb. Most of the big teams were represented, but a chase from Optum Pro Cycling gradually brought them back.
“We had Trixi in that break,” explained Specialized-lululemon directeur sportif Ronny Lauke, “so we were happy with the situation but a couple of good teams in the field missed the break so eventually it was reeled in and the race descended quickly into the town of Idaho City for a 35 person sprint.”
Midway up the second climb, to Mores Creek, the group was eventually caught and, once over the top, all that remained was the long descent to the finish. Despite most of the sprinters being left behind – with almost a third of the peloton failing to finish inside the time limit – Teutenberg managed to hang on, and took the sprint.
Teutenberg’s Specialized-lululemon teammate, stage two winner Amber Neben held on to her race lead, but time bonuses for Teutenberg saw her jump from fourth to second. The German-registered team still held the top four places in the general classification, with just the rolling Boise circuit stage to come.
Result stage 3
1. Ina Teutenberg (Ger) Specialized-lululemon
2. Leah Kirchmann (Can) Optum Pro Cycling
3. Megan Guarnier (USA) Team Tibco-To The Top
4. Inga Cilvinaite (Ltu) Diadora-Pasta Zara
5. Claudia Häusler (Ger) Orica-GreenEdge
6. Jennifer Hohl (Swi) Faren-Honda
7. Tiffany Cromwell (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
8. Alison Powers (USA) Now and Novartis for MS
9. Maaike Polspoel (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Ridley 2012
10. Flavia Oliveira (Bra) Forno d’Asolo-Colavita
Standings after stage 3
1. Amber Neben (USA) Specialized-lululemon
2. Ina Teutenberg (Ger) Specialized-lululemon @ 9s
3. Evelyn Stevens (USA) Specialized-lululemon @ 11s
4. Clara Hughes (Can) Specialized-lululemon @ 14s
5. Shara Gillow (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge @ 26s
6. Alison Powers (USA) Now and Novartis for MS @ 33s
7. Tara Whitten (Can) Team Tibco-To The Top @ 38s
8. Trixi Worrack (Ger) Specialized-lululemon @ 41s
9. Jasmin Glaesser (Can) Canadian National Team @ 1’04”
10. Jade Wilcoxson (USA) Optum Pro Cycling @ 1’09”