Queen-Tut continues perfect Giro and takes four successive wins for the first time in her career
Ina Teutenberg (HTC-Columbia) continued her seemingly unstoppable Giro d’Italia Femminile by taking her fourth stage out of four between Ficarolo and Lendinara. The German outsprinted her perennial rival Kirsten Wild (Cervélo TestTeam), with Shelley Evans (United States) taking her best result of the race so far in third.
"It's a very special moment," said Teutenberg afterwards. “I don't think in 30 years of racing as an amateur and professional that I've ever managed to take four wins in a row before. We didn't think we were going to win the stage, we knew that a lot of the other teams were going to try for breaks, but they never seemed to work out."
"I remembered the finish from two years ago,” the German explained, “and everybody went from 300 metres to go. But I came off the right wheel and was able to raise my hands before I went across the finish line. I knew I had got the win, which was nice."
Once again the stage was run under high temperatures, but this did not stop the first attack from Viktoria Vologdyna (Chirio-Forno d’Asolo). The Ukranian was unable to get more than 20 seconds clear though and was soon caught.
The next move came from Gloria Presti (Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo-Ghezzi) after the 20-year-old won the intermediate sprint in Fratta Polesine. She was joined by Luisa Tamanini (Chirio-Forno d’Asolo) and the two Italians managed to hold the HTC-Columbia led peloton at bay until the race entered the finish town of Lendinara.
Once the peloton was together Teutenberg bided her time on the wheel of Wild and came around the Dutchwoman to take the win.
Teutenberg extends her lead in the overall classification still further, but with the race set to get hillier the German is under no illusions of being able to hold on to the pink jersey.
"It's a very difficult last three kilometres,” she said of tomorrow’s fifth stage between Orta San Giulio and Pratolungo, north east of Milano, “and it'll be an uphill finish, so I'll have fight hard to hold onto the lead. If it doesn't work out, I'll just switch my brain into worker mode and make sure one of my teammates ends the race on Sunday as leader."
Result stage 4
1. Ina Teutenberg (Ger) HTC-Columbia
2. Kirsten Wild (Ned) Cervélo TestTeam
3. Shelley Evans (USA) United States National Team
4. Giorgia Bronzini (Ita) Gauss-RDZ-Ormu
5. Annemiek Van Vleuen (Ned) Netherlands National Team
6. Alessandra D’Ettorre (Ita) Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo-Ghezzi
7. Barbara Guarischi (Ita) Michela Fanini-Record-Rox
8. Marinane Vos (Ned) Netherlands National Team
9. Rasa Leleivyte (Ltu) Safi-Pasta Zara
10. Valentina Scandolara (Ita) Vaiano-Tepso-Solaris Tech
Standings after stage 4
1. Ina Teutenberg (Ger) HTC-Columbia
2. Kirsten Wild (Ned) Cervélo TestTeam @ 40s
3. Marianne Vos (Ned) Netherlands National Team @ 50s
4. Judith Arndt (Ger) HTC-Columbia @ 57s
5. Linda Villumsen (NZl) HTC-Columbia @ 58s