Teutenberg triumphs in France

Ina-Yoko Teutenberg stormed to victory on a windy stage four at the Tour de l'Aude on Monday. It was the 19th l'Aude stage victory in the German's illustrious career. Andrea Bosman (Leontien.nl) finished second, on the same time as the winner, while Carmen Small (US National Team) took third, two seconds further back.

In a successful day for the HTC-Columbia squad, Adrie Visser retained her overall lead after finishing in the first chase group after the peloton was torn to pieces by the wind.

Teutenberg, Bosman and Small had formed a break with Brooke Miller (TIBCO) earlier in the stage and despite strong winds were able reach the finish 23 seconds ahead of a group of 18 riders. In spite of her success on Monday, Teutenberg revealed her competitive side after the stage.

"I was actually pretty annoyed before the stage started because I'd ridden a poor team time trial the day before, and so I worked hard to forge an early break with three other riders," said Teutenberg after claiming her 12th victory of the season.

"The only problem was it was really windy today. It was blowing at maybe 50 or 60km/h and we were riding mostly into a headwind. It was crazy. Normally you get one windy day in the Tour de l'Aude, but this time it just hasn't stopped and this was the worst of the race so far."

The surviving escapees reached the finish with enough of their advantage intact and Teutenberg used her powerful sprint to overcome her fellow escapees.

"Cervélo were working very hard behind and after losing one person from the break, we reached the finish with only about 20 seconds on the bunch," she said. "It wasn't much of a gap but we kept working together and we were totally exhausted when it was over.

"The final sprint was really close at first, but I was able to put some distance between me and the rest of the break at the end. It really made up for what had happened the day before."

For Visser, her first day in the overall lead of a race was a tough test, but it was one the Dutchwoman was able to pass with flying colours. Although weather conditions decimated the much of peloton, Loes Gunnewijk (Nederland Bloeit) finished on the same time as Visser to remain in second, 23 seconds down. Chantal Blaak (Leontien.nl) was a beneficiary of the rough conditions as she moved from fifth to third overall.

"It was a really hard day," said Visser. "But this is my first ever lead in a stage race and it's really nice to look down and see I'm wearing a yellow jersey. The stage had a really tough start, and later on Cervélo started to chase. But I had a good spot in the bunch and I could hold on okay.

"Tomorrow is a lot more mountainous and we're more here for stage wins than winning the overall, but I won't let go of the lead without a fight. Whatever happens I won't forget leading this race, either."