Cervélo TestTeam dominates Italian stage race
It was the day’s glory for Eleonora Patuzzo (Safi Pasta Zara) in the final stage of the Giro di Trentino, but Emma Pooley produced an even bigger smile, as she won her second stage race of the season. Patuzzo was the strongest in a break of four, which came home 25 seconds before the peloton. Judith Arndt was second and Pooley’s teammate Claudia Häusler third. Arndt and Häusler also finished second and third in GC.
The Cervélo TestTeam was quite dominating on the tough final day. “It went really well today, we kept the jersey, the team worked hard and rode very aggressively and we were able to make some attacks,” said Pooley after winning the Giro di Trentino. “In the front group there were fourteen riders with three from our team. Sharon [Laws] was super strong today and Claudia ended up in the breakaway with Arndt and finished third in the stage and in the general classification as well.”
Like the men in their respective races in Europe today, the women had to fight the elements. “Today’s conditions were not easy. It was wet and cold and the team really held it together to achieve another great result.”
Her directeur sportif, Jens Zemke, was equally pleased. “We tried to make it hard again today as we were climbing up 1000 meters on the stage’s only climb. We experienced strong conditions with heavy rain and it was quite cold,” he said. With three riders in the winning break, Cervélo had options. “In the second of the two final laps we attacked again with Claudia Häusler. On her back wheel were Arndt and Patuzzo. They arrived at the finish with four riders, 25 seconds ahead of the bunch.” With the overall win achieved, Zemke was not too unhappy that the day’s victory eluded them.
“Emma Pooley, of course, finished as the winner of the race with more than a two-minute advantage. Claudia came third in the GC and Sharon Laws won the crown from the princess of the castle Thun for the sprint. Super job from the team, we won just about everything with the mountain jersey also going to Pooley, fantastic team work and team spirit.”
Stage result
1 Eleonora Patuzzo (Safi Pasta Zara)
2 Judith Arndt (HTC Columbia)
3 Claudia Häusler (Cervélo TestTeam)
Final overall classification
1 Emma Pooley (Cervélo TestTeam)
2 Judith Arndt (HTC Columbia)
3 Claudia Häusler (Cervélo TestTeam)