Armitstead prevails in Le Teil

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Lizzie Armitstead (Cervelo TestTeam) won stage three of the Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche in Le Teil when she gapped her breakaway companions inside the final kilometre and crossed the finish line with a four-second cushion. Grace Verbeke (Lotto Ladies Team) won the 11-rider sprint for second ahead of Fröydis Waersted (Norway).

"It was a nice good victory today with great teamwork again from [teammates] Lieselot Decroix and Patricia Schwager who did great work in the first part of the race, enabling us to have four riders in the front," said Armitstead. " I remembered the course from last year. With 600 meters to go I took a fast corner and had a small gap and I just gave it full gas to the finish and nobody could pass me."

"The stage was marked by a seventeen rider break lasting until the final 30km when they came together before the finish on the long climb," said Egon van Kessel, Cervelo TestTeam sports director. "The climb was not that heavy, so we really couldn't make a difference to the others. We had four riders in the break: Armitstead, Sharon Laws, Carla Ryan and Claudia Häusler. A rider did try to break out of the group but was taken back in the final.

"We decided to go for the sprint with Lizzie and she was able to win it. There are some heavy stages ahead and the team is still in a good position. We now have several options for the GC with Sharon [Laws] for sure, but also with Lizzie and Claudia."

The general classification remains unchanged with Vicki Whitelaw (Lotto Ladies Team) leading Sharon Laws (Cervelo TestTeam) by one second while Ruth Corset (Australia) holds third, 1:29 down.

Tomorrow the peloton tackles the queen stage from Saint Sauveur de Montagut to Cruas. The 117km stage contains one category 1 climb, two category 2 climbs and one category 3 climb, the last climb before the finish in Cruas.