May 30/06 8:15 am - Tour du Grand Montreal: Stage 2

Posted by Editoress on 05/30/06
 

Tour du Grand Montreal Montreal, Quebec

Olivia Gollan (Nobili) of Australia won the second stage of the Tour cycliste du Grand Montréal in Rigaud at the end of a 3 hour, 12 minute and 1 second race, coming in scarcely 2 seconds ahead of 14 breakaway racers who rode alongside her in the last 25 kilometres.

Two Germans, Judith Arndt (T-Mobile) and Trixi Worrack (Nurnberger Versicherung) came in second and third, respectively, at the end of the 117.8 km race, fought on a road circuit that favoured breakaways in the last 30 kilometres.

American Christine Thorburn, coming in ninth, also 2 seconds behind the winner, keeps the yellow jersey as individual ranking leader in the Tour cycliste du Grand Montréal. Thanks to bonus points accumulated during the intermediary and finishing sprints, Trixi Worrack moved up two spots, from fourth to second position in cumulative ranking. American Kristin Armstrong (Lipton) remains in third place, having finished fourteenth in the stage, but with the same time as the breakaway racers.

A breakaway by Élodie Touffet (Nobili) of France in the third lap really made hostility break out in the pack. Eventually accompanied by Xiangyin Ruan (Giant), they widened the gap to 50 seconds. However, Touffet was not truly a threat given that her performance in the Lachine time trial put her 1 minute, 23 seconds behind. The yellow jersey team, Webcor-Platinum, and Lipton, ranking second and third, joined efforts to catch up to the breakaway racers, doing so in the second to last loop of the race. Briefly pulling away from the pack, Canadian Erinne Willock, Thorburn's teammate, did not get more than a 20 second lead for a short time. It is on a counterattack that the good breakaway group formed with 15 racers, all favourites. The group finished at the same time, all except for Olivia Gollan, pulling ahead over one kilometre from the finish line to win the stage.

Olivia Gollan holds the point ranking jersey, only one point ahead of Trixi Worrack and two points ahead of Judith Arndt. Worrack earned the best sprinter jersey, seven points ahead of Gollan and nine points ahead of Rochelle Gilmore (Colorado Premier Training). A first and second position in the mountain sprint won Annette Beutler (Elk Haus) the best climber jersey.

The road circuit's design favoured gaps in the pack and many team ranking changes occurred. Team Lipton and Webcor-Platinum are still in first and second position, respectively. However, Victor Brewing fell to sixth place, while T-Mobile moved up one spot to third place.