Teutenberg steams home for second stage victory in Geelong Tour
Germany's Ina-Yoko Teutenberg scored her second straight win when she sprinted home first at the end of today's 114.3km stage three of the Geelong Tour out and back from the Victorian country town of Lara.
Teutenberg, 32, led home Australia's Oenone Wood, 26, to give the T-Mobile team the top two placings with Sydney's Rochelle Gilmore, 25, (Menikini Gysko) in third place.
The stage win gave Teutenberg a ten second bonus and moved her to within 20 seconds of the race lead but despite the efforts of T-Mobile to try and take over the race lead Welsh world number one, Nicole Cooke, (Raleigh Lifeforce) ensured she finished safely in the main field crossing the line 23rd to maintain he lead.
"We tried to get into the leader’s jersey but Raleigh did a pretty good job getting that break back and then there were a lot of attacks in the last ten ks (kilometres)," said Teutenberg. "There are lot of contenders on G.C. (overall) but nothing really went and then I found Kate (Bates) and Judith (Arndt) with 800 metres to go to the finish.
"Kate took me to 300 metres then Judith took over and I did the rest," she said of her team's lead out to the finish. "You know there are other people in there and we have to watch out a little bit because there’s only one day rest between the Tour and the World Cup (Saturday March 3).
In tomorrow's final stage at Barwon Heads on Victoria's Surf Coast Cooke, the defending World Cup Series champion, will face a tough challenge with four intermediate sprints and the stage finish offering bonus seconds. Twenty riders are within a minute of the race lead and three T-Mobile riders are poised to spoil Cooke's party (Judith Arndt @17sec, Teutenberg @20sec and Wood @22sec).
"We'll see what we plan tomorrow but I would prefer an easy day tomorrow," said Teutenberg giving nothing away.
Wood, a three time winner of the Geelong Tour," agrees with her team mate that the priority for the new-look T-Mobile line up is Saturday's opening World Cup Round.
"With a team like we’ve got here that’s working already, and we’ve only raced for two days, I think we’re a great chance to win," she said. "100 per cent there are six options in our team and six very realistic options.
"Any one of the six girls can win and I’m very confident of that," said Wood of their chances and with Teutenberg's sprint form already on display the German rider could score her second straight Geelong World Cup win.
Cooke meantime paid credit to her team mates for ensuring she finished the day still in the race lead.
"We had a really challenging climb mid-stage and a breakaway went away as well so we had a lot of things to deal with," said Cooke. "My team was really strong today, every single rider was doing a fantastic job and we closed the breakaway down, then it was just a case of controlling the sprint and making sure none of my rivals got away and got some bonuses.
"I think we’re in a good position to hold the leader’s jersey and it’s so much easier to defend than to gain it," said Cooke who if she wins the Geelong Tour will be the first non-Australian in the event's five year history. "I didn’t know, I’m just doing it for myself rather than against the Aussies.
"I’ve really enjoyed my time that I’ve been in Australia, it’s the second time I’ve been here and it’d be awesome to be the first international winner," she said. "There’s still one day to go so I won’t start getting too carried away yet. We have to wait and see."
The Geelong Tour is the lead-up event to the opening race in the World Cup series, which will be staged on a street circuit in the Victorian coastal city of Geelong on Saturday.The Geelong Tour is proudly sponsored by the Victorian Government and the City of Greater Geelong.
Erika Vilunaite
Silvia Parietti




