By Paul Verkuylen in Geelong
After taking two of the three stages on offer and placing a rider in second in each stage of the Geelong Women's Tour, High Road will head into Sunday’s first round of the Women’s World Cup in Geelong, Australia as the hot favorites.
Ina Teutenberg, High Roads top sprinter, has been training well over the German winter, opting to spend to time in the warmer climates of California to prepare for the opening rounds.
"I have been in California all winter, so I have been training well. I am in good shape," she said after placing second in the opening time trial on Thursday.
Teutenberg followed that up with another second place behind team-mate and Australian national road champion, Oenone Wood in the second stage of the Tour. "The results so far have come as a bit of a surprise," she explained, before adding "with the team we hope to do well in the World Cup on Sunday."
In the final stage, held in windy conditions on the Barwon Heads circuit, Teutenberg finally went one better than her two second places, outsprinting team-mate Wood for the win.
Both Wood and Teutenberg are confident that the team can do well on Sunday, "We have a fantastic team this year with a lot of the team from last year, and a couple of new ones. I think that we will be a lot stronger this year," Wood said.
High Road are expecting the main challenge to come from the in form Cervelo - Lifeforce team who will be on a high after Christiane Soeder’s overall win in the Tour.
"Cervelo Life-force has a strong team and we never underestimate them, they have some great sprinters," Teutenberg explained.
"Sunday’s a new race and everyone gets fitter after every race, but we pretty much have someone for every situation so we should have a very good race," she concluded.
