Arndt assumes World Cup lead at Berne

Judith Arndt (Team High Road) soared into the World Cup lead on Sunday after clinching second place in the Tour de Berne round of the series. The race was won by Sweden's Susanne Ljungskog (Menikini-Selle Italia) after attacking from a group of 18 riders in the finale. Arndt led in the remainder of the leading break for second.

"It's a surprise, but a nice surprise," Arndt said. "To be honest, I didn't even know that I could get the leader's jersey today. My goal is more to win individual races this season than the series overall, but now I've got it, though, I will work hard to try to keep it.

"I was expecting Susanne to make a move, but it wasn't possible to get in every break, and she made the right one," she added.

Arndt had nothing but praise for her High Road team-mates, who sacrificed themselves early on to keep her in the frame. "Our team did a lot of work today because I wasn't well placed early on," she said. "I missed the first break and that meant they had to get on the front of the bunch to bring it back and put me back in contention.

"They were tired in the finale and I was the only High Road rider in the winning move," added Arndt. "But that was my fault because they had to do so much earlier in the race. I'm happy though, to have the jersey. Second is a good result."

Before her second place in Berne, Arndt won the Tour of Flanders round of the World Cup and was third in the Flèche Wallonne.

See Cyclingnews' full coverage of the Tour de Berne.