Some Good News....

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

Three GB in top 10 at German Stage Race

32nd Thüringen-Rundfahrt (U23) - 2.2

The Great Britain Olympic Academy Under 23 Endurance cycling team are currently racing in Germany at the 32nd Thüringen-Rundfahrt International stage race and on the Time Trial stage yesterday, had three riders in the top 10. The race started well for them in the Team Time Trial when they placed fifth. The team were unlucky in that all those that finished above them raced the 4 kilometres in the dry and had the British had the same conditions, the coach is no doubt his boys would have won the stage.

By way of example, he says that one of the corners was in the dry a 60 kilometre per hour bend but in the wet, the Brits had to slow to 30k an hour for it. And all the teams that started after the Brits were slower overall. He was however thankful they all stayed upright after a crash in a similar race in Italy recently. The next stage over 150km was a one of those blustery days with lots of cross winds, echelons forming and a far from flat course. A big group escaped on the final climb and in the sprint finish, Ian Stannard was 3rd with Ben Swift second in the bunch sprint 45 seconds later.

The last stage to be held with three more to go, was a time trial, a hilly one at that containing a 4k climb, and in that Ben Swift was 6th at 20 seconds, Russell Hampton 7th at 22 seconds and Ian Stannard (GBr) 9th at 23 seconds. Talking about the time trial, a stage where the coach says that in many Tours, a large percentage of the field will ‘ride it’ rather than ‘race it’, the GB boys were all asked to race it to put them in a strong position overall to give them options on the road later.

Time Trialling is one of the skills he works with them on at their base in Italy and he was not surprised at their finishing positions. As a result, going into stage 3 today, the team have four riders within a minute (approx) of the overall lead and Ian Stannard in 3rd overall. Rod Ellingworth, the coach and manager of the Under 23 team who has already helped develop two riders who have already made it on the road (Geraint Thomas and Mark Cavendish), says there is no reason why his riders can’t win a stage or even the overall.

The next three days he says will be hard where there are climbs going up to 1,000 metres but the team will work as a unit behind Ian or whoever has the best chance of a stage or overall victory. That may be Ben Swift who after a break, is finding it ‘easy’ and in the form of his life as the team prepare for the European Track and Road championships in July.

More from the team as we get it.

Results

Prologue TTT
1. Continental Team Milram
5. Great Britain
(Jonny Bellis, Andrew Tennant, Ben Swift, Ian Stannard, Russell Hampton, Robert Patridge)

STAGE 1.
1. Tony Martin (Ger) Thüringer Energie Team 3.41.38 (40.255 km/h)
2. Sebastian Hans (Ger) Akud Rose 0.01
3. Ian Stannard Great Britain Cycling Team

19. Ben Swift Great Britain Cycling Team 45
24. Jonathan Bellis Great Britain Cycling Team
35. Andrew Tennant Great Britain Cycling Team
44. Robert Patridge Great Britain Cycling Team
63. Russell Hampton Great Britain Cycling Team

Mountains
1. Christian Kux (Ger) Continental Team Milram 3 pts
2. Ian Stannard (GBr) Great Britain Cycling Team 2
3. Arron Brown (RSA) South Africa National Team 1

STAGE 2 (ITT), 14 km
1. Matt King (Aus) Australian National Team U23 17.49 (47.146 km/h)
2. Jörg Lehmann (Ger) LKT Team Brandenburg 0.01
3. Jerome Coppel (Fra) Equipe de France 0.05

6. Ben Swift Great Britain Cycling Team 0.20
7. Russell Hampton Great Britain Cycling Team 0.22
9. Ian Stannard Great Britain Cycling Team 0.23
13. Robert Patridge Great Britain Cycling Team
47. Jonathan Bellis Great Britain Cycling Team
66. Andrew Tennant Great Britain Cycling Team

General classification after stage two
1. Jörg Lehmann (Ger) LKT Team Brandenburg 4.05.22
2. Sebastian Hans (Ger) Akud Rose 0.03
3. Ian Stannard (GBr) Great Britain Cycling Team 0.05

18. Ben Swift (GBr) Great Britain Cycling Team 0.50
19. Russell Hampton (GBr) Great Britain Cycling Team 0.52
22. Robert Patridge (GBr) Great Britain Cycling Team 1.03
34. Jonathan Bellis (GBr) Great Britain Cycling Team 1.23
54. Andrew Tennant (GBr) Great Britain Cycling Team 1.44

Team classification
1. LKT Team Brandenburg 12.05.50
2. Great Britain Cycling Team 0.47

22 teams in all.