Teutenberg backs up Tour win at World Cup

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HTC-Highroad demonstrated once again that there was no team that could touch them out in China, as Ina-Yoko Teutenberg followed her win at the Tour of ChongMing Island stage race by winning the fifth round of the UCI Road World Cup.

The 136.3km race was mostly flat, straight stretches, with two climbing points as the riders crossed and re-crossed part of the Shanghai Yangstze Bridge. Once again, the winds were expected to play its part in the race – and the race hadn’t even begun when the drama started. According to Jackson Stewart, the DS of the USA’s National Team, the Ukrainian National Team manager was caught on camera taking Hitec Products’ wheels. Stewart tweeted that all the wheels were returned before the race, and the Ukraine Team apologised, but Hitec’s race nearly didn’t happen.

When the race did get underway, Valentina Bastianelli (Vaiano-Solaristech) had made an early break, at one point gaining 4’45” on the peloton, and winning the King of the Mountains competition by reaching the two climbs onto the bridge first, she was caught before the second intermediate sprint. Although the winds on the bridge stretched out the peloton as expected, it soon came back together once the riders were back on the Island, and despite attacks from Giant, the race ended in a bunch sprint.

Once more, HTC-Highroad executed a perfect lead-out, which Teutenberg took advantage of as only she can, winning the sprint against Garmin-Cervelo’s Lizzie Armitstead. Teutenberg’s team-mate Charlotte Becker rounded out the podium, with Nederland Bloeit’s Annemiek van Vleuten (Nederland Bloeit) in fourth place.

This was enough to take Van Vleuten back to the top of the overall World Cup competition, and into the leader’s jersey for the third time this year. Van Vleuten had been leading after her win at the Tour of Flanders, until her team-mate Marianne Vos overtook her by winning the Fleche Wallonne. Vos had chosen not to contest this round, after riding the cyclocross, track and road classics seasons back to back (and winning two World Champion titles in the process). Van Vleuten’s nearest rival, Emma Johansson (Hitec Products), was unable to challenge the Dutch rider, finishing in 14th place.

Next month the World Cup moves to Spain for the GP Valladolid, on 5th June. The penultimate rounds, the Open de Suède Vargarda Team Time Trial and Road Race are on the 29th and 31st July, before the competition finishes in France with the GP de Plouay on 28th August.

Results