Arndt continues HTC-Highroad's winning streak

The HTC Highroad Women's team continued its dominance of the Giro della Toscana Femminile with its third straight stage win as Judith Arndt prevailed on the hilltop finish in Volterra today.

The races' defending champion outsprinted Claudia Häusler (Diadora - Pasta Zara) atop the category one ascent while the USA's Megan Guarnier edged Rasa Leleivyte (Vaiano Solaristech) for third place three seconds later.

The Volterra climb, tackled twice in the third stage's 24km, proved decisive in shattering the peloton in the finale of the 137.6km parcours.

"Ina [Teutenberg] set a brutal pace on the last climb, and a lot of riders fell behind," said HTC Highroad Women's directeur sportif Ronny Lauke. "The fifteen riders who hung on included Judith [Arndt], who took off in the last three kilometers to go and no one could catch her. She won by a bike length."

Teutenberg, the overnight race leader, would finish the stage 4:41 off the pace, but the leader's jersey stays within the team and moves to Arndt's shoulders. The German leads Guarnier by 26 seconds and Häusler by 33 seconds on general classification.

The peloton faces a split stage on Friday with a 67.3km road stage from Quarrata to Campi Bisenzio followed by a 2.2km individual time trial in Campi Bisenzio.