Regina Bruins (Cervélo TestTeam) won the prologue of the Tour de l’Aude around the Mediterranean seaside town of Gruissan. The 23-year-old Dutch time trial champion completed the 3.9km in 4’48”, 4 seconds faster than she rode the exact same course that she finished second on last year. She beat last year’s prologue winner Linda Villumsen (HTC-Columbia) by 4 seconds, and Marianne Vos (Nederland Bloeit) by a further second.
“It was a very good result today,” said Cervélo TestTeam director Egon Van Kessel. “We had three riders in the top ten. These results were important and very good for our morale going into the rest of the Tour.
“I was not worried about Regina’s performance,” he added. “I knew she could make it. Last year she was second here and this year she made it to the top. For tomorrow’s stage we will have to think a bit about our tactics. The Tour de l’Aude is long and we should not use to much energy at the beginning.”
Tomorrow’s stage 1 will take in a 117km loop starting and finishing in the village of Rieux Minervois. The course features a number of hills and undulations but may well end in a sprint, where the winner of the identical stage last year, Ina Teutenberg (HTC-Columbia), will be the hot favourite.
Result prologue
1. Regina Bruins (Ned) Cervélo TestTeam
2. Linda Villumsen (NZl) HTC-Columbia @ 4s
3. Marinane Vos (Ned) Nederland Bloeit @ 5s
4. Emma Pooley (GBr) Cervélo TestTeam @ 7s
5. Annemiek Van Vleuten (Ned) Nederland Bloeit @ 8s
6. Evelyn Stevens (USA) HTC-Columbia @ 9s
7. Adrie Visser (Ned) HTC-Columbia @ 9s
8. Lizzie Armitstead (GBr) Cervélo TestTeam @ 9s
9. Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) German National Team @ 11s
10. Emma Johansson (Swe) RedSun Cycling Team @ 11s
Standings after prologue
1. Regina Bruins (Ned) Cervélo TestTeam
2. Linda Villumsen (NZl) HTC-Columbia @ 3s
3. Marinane Vos (Ned) Nederland Bloeit @ 4s