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Gracia Orlova - 2.9.2
Czech Republic, May 1-4, 2003
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Stage 4 - May 4: Lichnov - Lichnov, 131.2 km
Another stage for Arndt
Brändli strengthens her grip on GC
By Jeff Jones
The fourth and toughest stage of the Gracia Orlova resulted in another victory for Nürnberger's Judith Arndt, who attacked together with race leader Nicole Brändli with 30 kilometres to go to cross the line over two minutes in front of the next group. Czech rider Lada Kozlíková won the four woman sprint for third in front of Amber Neben (T-Mobile), and thus kept her third place on GC. However the lead stayed with Brändli, who now really only has Judith Arndt to worry about in tomorrow's fifth and final stage.
Today's stage was held around Lichnov over a hilly 131 kilometre parcours, with rain and 10-12 degree temperatures accompanying the riders all day. It was seen as the decisive stage, with the toughest climb coming at Pustevny after 94 kilometres.
After 15 kilometres of racing, Russian rider Elena Chalykh (Russian National Team) attacked alone, and rode to a five minute lead. The peloton kept riding at a reasonable tempo and picked her up at the foot of the cat. 1 climb with 38 km to go. This climb was eight kilometres long and on rough roads, and most teams were aware of it from last year. After two kilometres, the leading bunch was reduced to seven riders, and from that Judith Arndt and Nicole Brändli powered away from the rest.
No-one could get close to them after that, although a group of four riders with Kozlíková, Neben, Trixi Worrack (Nürnberger) and Barbara Lancioni (Road Runner) chased them all the way to the finish. Behind them was a group with Kim Bruckner (T-Mobile), which grew in size over the last kilometres but could not make an impression on the leaders.
For the second day in a row, Arndt managed to win the sprint for the stage, and thus moved into second place on GC behind Brändli, who is looking good to take the overall classification when the race finishes tomorrow.
Nürnberger director Jens Zemke was again more than satisfied with the team's performance. "We're very happy," he told Cyclingnews. "We also have the team competition. With the second place and the three stage wins, overall it's a good result."
Arndt is still a possibility to take the lead from Brändli in tomorrow's uphill finish. "We'll try tomorrow," said Zemke, who realised that his team lost the initiative in the second stage time trial. "The time trial was a mess. It was the first day we tested the bikes and that wasn't perfect. We have ten days to work on this before we get another test in the Tour de l'Aude."
With Amber Neben slipping down to fourth on GC, her goal tomorrow will be to try to take back enough time to finish ahead of Kozlíková. "We'll try to get Amber back on the third step," T-Mobile director Jim Miller told Cyclingnews. "We can't get to either Brändli or Arndt, but four seconds isn't out of reach."
Results
1 Judith Arndt (Ger) Equipe Nurnberger 3.41.52 (35.48 km/h) 2 Nicole Brandli (Swi) Swiss National Team 3 Lada Kozlíková (Cze) Rostex-Quantum 3.44 4 Amber Neben (USA) T-Mobile 3.47 5 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Equipe Nurnberger 3.52 6 Barbara Lancioni (Ita) Road Runner-Guerciotti 4.12 7 Christiane Soeder (Ger) Stuttgart 4.57 8 Bogumila Matusiak (Pol) Polish National Team 5.04 9 Andrea Graus (Aut) Austrian National Team 5.16 10 Vzesnia Uskaite (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team 5.18 11 Olivia Jane Gollan (Aus) Road Runner-Guerciotti 12 Kimberly Bruckner (USA) T-Mobile 13 Kristin Amstrong (USA) T-Mobile 14 Theresa Senff (Ger) Euroregio Egrensis 15 Lohse Rasmussen (Den) Danish National Team 5.22 16 Maja Adamsen (Den) Danish National Team 17 Susanne Beier (Ger) Stuttgart 18 Barbara Heeb (Swi) Swiss National Team 19 Hayley Rutherford (Aus) Road Runner-Guerciotti 5.25 20 Trine Hansen (Den) Team Sats 21 Giovanni Troldi (Ita) Italian National Team 5.28 22 Madeleine Lidberg (Swe) Equipe Nurnberger 23 Daniela Kenty (Ger) Red Bull 24 Christina Peick (Den) Team Sats 5.36 25 Silvia Parietti (Ita) Italian National Team 5.41 26 Svetlana Pauliukaite (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team 27 Birgit Hollmann (Ger) Rostex-Quantum 28 Anna Zugno (Ita) Italian National Team 5.43 29 Kim Anderson (USA) T-Mobile 5.46 30 Claudia Hecht (Ger) Euroregio Egrensis 5.51 31 Appollinaria Bakova (Rus) Russian National Team 32 Mari Holden (USA) T-Mobile 6.03 33 Kerstin Schmidt (Ger) Stuttgart 6.09 34 Zdena Havlíková (Cze) Czech Republic National Team 7.11 35 Jelena Babikova (Rus) Russian National Team 7.14 36 Frances Newstead (GBr) British National Team 37 Anna Skawinska (Pol) Polish National Team 7.24 38 Carolin Hildebrandt (Ger) Red Bull 7.31 39 Katerina Bohatá (Cze) Rostex-Quantum 7.38 40 Lusie Keller (Ger) German National Team 7.41 41 Mette Andreasen (Den) Team Sats 42 Pavla Nováková (Cze) Konica CZ 7.47 43 Angela Brodtka (Ger) Red Bull 44 Birgit Sollner (Ger) Equipe Nurnberger 7.59 45 Barbora Bohatá (Cze) Rostex-Quantum 8.05 46 Natalija Bojarskaja (Rus) Profi team Baikal 8.38 47 Charlote Becker (Ger) German National Team 8.55 48 Nadine Bruhn (Den) Danish National Team 8.58 49 Margaret Hemsley (Aus) Equipe Nurnberger 50 Meredith Miller (USA) Team Sats 51 Madeleine Sandig (Ger) Euroregio Egrensis 52 Annette Beutler (Swi) Swiss National Team 53 Clarisa Breuer (Ger) Euroregio Egrensis 54 Karla Polívková (Cze) Czech Republic National Team 55 Martina Rusicková (Cze) Konica CZ 56 Anke Wichmann (Ger) German National Team 57 Olga Slioussareva (Rus) Russian National Team 58 Christina Becker (Ger) German National Team 59 Alison Wright (Aus) Road Runner-Guerciotti 60 Anna Sipurzinska (Pol) Polish National Team 61 Noemi Cantele (Ita) Italian National Team 9.10 62 Julie Pekárková (Cze) Konica CZ 9.20 63 Anne Wagner (Den) Team Sats 9.42 64 Sigrid Corneo (Ita) Road Runner-Guerciotti 9.48 65 Petra Rossner (Ger) Equipe Nurnberger 9.53 66 Julia Kurtzke (Ger) Red Bull 13.34 67 Sara Waller (GBr) British National Team 13.42 68 Eva Hubená (Cze) Konica CZ 13.45 69 Jana Kabrtová (Cze) Czech Republic National Team 13.52 70 Elke Gebhardt (Ger) German National Team 71 Pavla Neradilová (Cze) Czech Republic National Team 13.56 72 Ekaterina Naumova (Rus) Rostex-Quantum 73 Daniela Pintarelli (Aut) Austrian National Team 74 Emma Davies (GBr) British National Team 14.01 75 Svetlana Denisenko (Rus) Russian National Team 76 Ekaterina Malomura (Rus) Profi team Baikal 14.08 77 Marta Evangelisti (Ita) Italian National Team 78 Stacey Peters (USA) T-Mobile 14.11 79 Karina Serensen (Den) Team Sats 14.18 80 Serena Cavincchi (Ita) Italian National Team 14.57 81 Agne Babdonaviciute (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team 16.11 82 Bernadette Schober (Aut) Austrian National Team 83 Lenka Valová (Cze) Rostex-Quantum 16.13 84 Valentina Gavrilova (Rus) Profi team Baikal 16.19 85 Franziska Rippin (Ger) Euroregio Egrensis 16.42 86 Pastourmatzi (Gre) Greek National Team 17.28 87 Elena Chalykh (Rus) Russian National Team 17.32 88 Elissavet Chantzi (Gre) Greek National Team 89 Tina Nieminen (Fin) Finnish National Team 17.40 90 Julita Papinigyte (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team 17.44 91 Malgorzata Wysocka (Pol) Polish National Team 17.50 92 Charlote Goldsmith (GBr) British National Team 93 Oxana Kostenko (Rus) Russian National Team 19.53 94 Jacqui Marshall (GBr) British National Team 20.10 95 Bettina Kuhn (Swi) Swiss National Team 20.49 96 Judith Baumann (Swi) Swiss National Team 97 Andrea Knecht (Swi) Swiss National Team 98 Katja Polzin (Ger) German National Team 99 Laura Lange (Ger) Euroregio Egrensis DNS Paulina Brzezna (Pol) Polish National Team DNS Doris Posch (Aut) Austrian National Team DNS Chalime Griourmpouz (Gre) Greek National Team DNF Vibe Kolding (Den) Danish National Team DNF Lotte Schmidt (Den) Danish National Team DNF Silvia Valsecchi (Ita) Road Runner-Guerciotti DNF Cristine Muller (Ger) Stuttgart DNF Balampanova Driva (Gre) Greek National Team DNF Iiris Karhu (Fin) Finnish National Team Points 1 Judith Arndt (Ger) Equipe Nurnberger 25 pts 2 Nicole Brandli (Swi) Swiss National Team 20 3 Lada Kozlíková (Cze) Rostex-Quantum 16 4 Amber Neben (USA) T-Mobile 13 5 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Equipe Nurnberger 11 6 Barbara Lancioni (Ita) Road Runner-Guerciotti 9 7 Christiane Soeder (Ger) Stuttgart 7 8 Bogumila Matusiak (Pol) Polish National Team 6 9 Andrea Graus (Aut) Austrian National Team 5 10 Vzesnia Uskaite (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team 4 11 Olivia Jane Gollan (Aus) Road Runner-Guerciotti 3 12 Kimberly Bruckner (USA) T-Mobile 2 13 Kristin Amstrong (USA) T-Mobile 2 14 Theresa Senff (Ger) Euroregio Egrensis 1 15 Lohse Rasmussen (Den) Danish National Team 1 Sprints Lichnov 9 km 1 Elena Chalykh (Rus) Russian National Team 3 pts 2 Giovanni Troldi (Ita) Italian National Team 2 Ostravice 36 km 1 Elena Chalykh (Rus) Russian National Team 3 pts 2 Giovanni Troldi (Ita) Italian National Team 2 3 Jacqui Marshall (GBr) British National Team 1 Mountains Pindula 81 km 1 Elena Chalykh (Rus) Russian National Team 5 pts 2 Olivia Jane Gollan (Aus) Road Runner-Guerciotti 4 3 Bogumila Matusiak (Pol) Polish National Team 3 4 Theresa Senff (Ger) Euroregio Egrensis 2 5 Agne Babdonaviciute (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team 1 Pindula 118 km 1 Nicole Brandli (Swi) Swiss National Team 5 pts 2 Egle Cekanauskaite (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team 4 3 Agne Babdonaviciute (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team 3 4 Barbara Lancioni (Ita) Road Runner-Guerciotti 2 5 Amber Neben (USA) T-Mobile 1 Pustevny 94 km 1 Nicole Brandli (Swi) Swiss National Team 10 pts 2 Egle Cekanauskaite (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team 8 3 Agne Babdonaviciute (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team 6 4 Egle Cekanauskaite (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team 4 5 Amber Neben (USA) T-Mobile 2 Bílá 58 km 1 Elena Chalykh (Rus) Russian National Team 10 pts 2 Olivia Jane Gollan (Aus) Road Runner-Guerciotti 8 3 Bogumila Matusiak (Pol) Polish National Team 6 4 Agne Babdonaviciute (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team 4 Teams 1 Equipe Nurnberger 11.14.56 2 Swiss National Team 5.00 3 T-Mobile 5.03 4 Road Runner-Guerciotti 5.35 5 Stuttgart 7.08 6 Italian National Team 7.32 7 Rostex-Quantum 7.43 8 Team Sats 9.22 9 Danish National Team 10.22 10 Euroregio Egrensis 10.47 11 Red Bull 11.26 12 Polish National Team 12.06 13 Russian National Team 12.43 14 German National Team 16.14 15 Konica CZ 16.45 16 Lithuanian National Team 17.50 17 Czech Republic National Team 20.41 18 British National Team 25.37 19 Austrian National Team 26.03 20 Profi team Baikal 29.45 General classification after stage 4 1 Nicole Brandli (Swi) Swiss National Team 8.36.55 2 Judith Arndt (Ger) Equipe Nurnberger 0.35 3 Lada Kozlíková (Cze) Rostex-Quantum 4.00 4 Amber Neben (USA) T-Mobile 4.07 5 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Equipe Nurnberger 6.01 6 Olivia Jane Gollan (Aus) Road Runner-Guerciotti 6.05 7 Kimberly Bruckner (USA) T-Mobile 8 Hayley Rutherford (Aus) Road Runner-Guerciotti 6.54 9 Kristin Amstrong (USA) T-Mobile 10 Christiane Soeder (Ger) Stuttgart 7.00 11 Barbara Lancioni (Ita) Road Runner-Guerciotti 7.03 12 Giovanni Troldi (Ita) Italian National Team 7.15 13 Bogumila Matusiak (Pol) Polish National Team 7.21 14 Barbara Heeb (Swi) Swiss National Team 8.00 15 Theresa Senff (Ger) Euroregio Egrensis 8.06 16 Vzesnia Uskaite (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team 8.19 17 Andrea Graus (Aut) Austrian National Team 8.24 18 Madeleine Lidberg (Swe) Equipe Nurnberger 19 Trine Hansen (Den) Team Sats 8.26 20 Lohse Rasmussen (Den) Danish National Team 8.45 21 Maja Adamsen (Den) Danish National Team 8.59 22 Anna Zugno (Ita) Italian National Team 9.02 23 Claudia Hecht (Ger) Euroregio Egrensis 9.19 24 Appollinaria Bakova (Rus) Russian National Team 9.44 25 Silvia Parietti (Ita) Italian National Team 9.45 26 Mari Holden (USA) T-Mobile 9.50 27 Susanne Beier (Ger) Stuttgart 9.55 28 Birgit Hollmann (Ger) Rostex-Quantum 9.56 29 Kim Anderson (USA) T-Mobile 9.59 30 Daniela Kenty (Ger) Red Bull 10.05 31 Frances Newstead (GBr) British National Team 10.23 32 Alison Wright (Aus) Road Runner-Guerciotti 10.49 33 Angela Brodtka (Ger) Red Bull 11.08 34 Christina Peick (Den) Team Sats 11.13 35 Kerstin Schmidt (Ger) Stuttgart 11.17 36 Lusie Keller (Ger) German National Team 11.27 37 Margaret Hemsley (Aus) Equipe Nurnberger 11.30 38 Birgit Sollner (Ger) Equipe Nurnberger 11.31 39 Olga Slioussareva (Rus) Russian National Team 11.45 40 Natalija Bojarskaja (Rus) Profi team Baikal 11.59 41 Madeleine Sandig (Ger) Euroregio Egrensis 12.11 42 Christina Becker (Ger) German National Team 12.23 43 Charlote Becker (Ger) German National Team 12.32 44 Annette Beutler (Swi) Swiss National Team 12.36 45 Julie Pekárková (Cze) Konica CZ 12.57 46 Meredith Miller (USA) Team Sats 13.05 47 Clarisa Breuer (Ger) Euroregio Egrensis 13.10 48 Anke Wichmann (Ger) German National Team 13.16 49 Katerina Bohatá (Cze) Rostex-Quantum 13.37 50 Noemi Cantele (Ita) Italian National Team 51 Mette Andreasen (Den) Team Sats 13.45 52 Petra Rossner (Ger) Equipe Nurnberger 13.58 53 Carolin Hildebrandt (Ger) Red Bull 14.25 54 Sigrid Corneo (Ita) Road Runner-Guerciotti 14.47 55 Zdena Havlíková (Cze) Czech Republic National Team 14.53 56 Svetlana Pauliukaite (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team 15.08 57 Barbora Bohatá (Cze) Rostex-Quantum 15.10 58 Nadine Bruhn (Den) Danish National Team 15.21 59 Anna Sipurzinska (Pol) Polish National Team 15.59 60 Karla Polívková (Cze) Czech Republic National Team 16.28 61 Jelena Babikova (Rus) Russian National Team 17.23 62 Anna Skawinska (Pol) Polish National Team 17.38 63 Emma Davies (GBr) British National Team 18.49 64 Serena Cavincchi (Ita) Italian National Team 19.09 65 Marta Evangelisti (Ita) Italian National Team 19.10 66 Stacey Peters (USA) T-Mobile 19.31 67 Ekaterina Naumova (Rus) Rostex-Quantum 20.06 68 Anne Wagner (Den) Team Sats 20.11 69 Pavla Nováková (Cze) Konica CZ 20.31 70 Martina Rusicková (Cze) Konica CZ 20.45 71 Jana Kabrtová (Cze) Czech Republic National Team 22.55 72 Franziska Rippin (Ger) Euroregio Egrensis 23.12 73 Elena Chalykh (Rus) Russian National Team 23.55 74 Malgorzata Wysocka (Pol) Polish National Team 24.08 75 Elke Gebhardt (Ger) German National Team 24.18 76 Charlote Goldsmith (GBr) British National Team 24.52 77 Sara Waller (GBr) British National Team 25.14 78 Ekaterina Malomura (Rus) Profi team Baikal 25.20 79 Bettina Kuhn (Swi) Swiss National Team 25.25 80 Svetlana Denisenko (Rus) Russian National Team 25.48 81 Karina Serensen (Den) Team Sats 28.21 82 Bernadette Schober (Aut) Austrian National Team 28.34 83 Tina Nieminen (Fin) Finnish National Team 29.47 84 Pavla Neradilová (Cze) Czech Republic National Team 29.48 85 Julia Kurtzke (Ger) Red Bull 29.52 86 Pastourmatzi (Gre) Greek National Team 30.34 87 Laura Lange (Ger) Euroregio Egrensis 33.29 88 Agne Babdonaviciute (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team 33.41 89 Oxana Kostenko (Rus) Russian National Team 33.53 90 Valentina Gavrilova (Rus) Profi team Baikal 33.55 91 Daniela Pintarelli (Aut) Austrian National Team 34.03 92 Elissavet Chantzi (Gre) Greek National Team 35.40 93 Julita Papinigyte (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team 37.20 94 Andrea Knecht (Swi) Swiss National Team 37.36 95 Katja Polzin (Ger) German National Team 37.41 96 Judith Baumann (Swi) Swiss National Team 38.34 97 Eva Hubená (Cze) Konica CZ 39.16 98 Lenka Valová (Cze) Rostex-Quantum 43.10 99 Jacqui Marshall (GBr) British National Team 45.46 Points classification 1 Nicole Brandli (Swi) Swiss National Team 67 pts 2 Judith Arndt (Ger) Equipe Nurnberger 54 3 Lada Kozlíková (Cze) Rostex-Quantum 45 4 Amber Neben (USA) T-Mobile 44 5 Alison Wright (Aus) Road Runner-Guerciotti 29 6 Hayley Rutherford (Aus) Road Runner-Guerciotti 29 7 Petra Rossner (Ger) Equipe Nurnberger 25 8 Olivia Jane Gollan (Aus) Road Runner-Guerciotti 25 9 Vzesnia Uskaite (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team 22 10 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Equipe Nurnberger 20 Mountains classification 1 Nicole Brandli (Swi) Swiss National Team 19 pts 2 Olivia Jane Gollan (Aus) Road Runner-Guerciotti 17 3 Lada Kozlíková (Cze) Rostex-Quantum 17 4 Elena Chalykh (Rus) Russian National Team 15 5 Judith Arndt (Ger) Equipe Nurnberger 12 6 Bogumila Matusiak (Pol) Polish National Team 9 7 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Equipe Nurnberger 4 8 Amber Neben (USA) T-Mobile 3 9 Barbara Lancioni (Ita) Road Runner-Guerciotti 2 10 Theresa Senff (Ger) Euroregio Egrensis 2 11 Vzesnia Uskaite (Ltu) Lithuanian National Team 2 12 Hayley Rutherford (Aus) Road Runner-Guerciotti 1
