Race News - 11 March
Stage Win in NZ
The time trial started under slightly windier conditions than the mountain stage the day before. Starting and finishing in Scorching Bay, just outside Wellington. The riders were keen to get this stage over, to allow enough recovery time before the final stage; the criterium in Wellington city centre.
Current Olympic Road Race champion Sara Carrigan (Australian National Team) was totally surprised to win stage 5 of the Trust House Tour of New Zealand. As the announcer declared she had beaten current Tour leader Judith Arndt (T-Mobile) by .01 of a second, she smiled and said “Wow, I didn’t expect that .” Carrigan covered the 14km course in 17 minutes 30 seconds ahead of Arndt 17 minutes 31 seconds and Susanna Ljungskog, third place in a time of 17 minutes 35 seconds.
Post Race Comments
"I rode across the line and thought ‘that was cool’, I am so excited to have won this stage. It’s hard to tell how you are going during a tour, your perceptions are always off and today’s the last day, so this is a great to win. I haven’t won anything for a while".
Full Results
1 CARRIGAN Sara AUS 17'30'' (41.143 km/h)
2 ARNDT Judith TMO á 0'01''
3 LJUNGSKOG Susanne FLE á 0'05''
4 CHEATLEY Catherine CHE á 0'21''
5 WOOD Oenone TMO á 0'24''
6 HOBSON Leigh CHE á 0'25''
7 KLEINMANN Larissa GER á 0'25''
8 WHITELAW Vicki AUS á 0'31''
9 EGYED Nikki AIS á 0'32''
10 VAN GILDER Laura CHE á 0'35''