Credit: CJ Farquharson

Credit: CJ Farquharson

Credit: CJ Farquharson

Credit: CJ Farquharson

 

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Team Columbia and Arndt Seal Women’s World Cup Victories in GP Plouay

August 25, 2008

Team Columbia has secured victory in the individual and team standings in the women’s World Cup competition with one race still to ride after yet another impressive performance in the GP Plouay in France.

Germany’s Judith Arndt finished fourth in the GP Plouay won by Fabiana Luperini ahead of Team Columbia’s Luise Keller on Sunday but it meant she gained enough points to secure overall victory in the individual standings of the World Cup.

Arndt has a total of 290 points and leads Suzanne De Goede by 82 points and Marianne Vos by 138 points. With a maximum of 75 points available in the final race in the Rund um die Nurnberger Aldstadt race in Germany on Sunday 14 September, Arndt is now assured of victory.

Team Columbia also dominate the team standings with an unbeatable total of 759 points. With Menikin-Selle Italia second with 442 points and Nurnberger Versicherung third with 438 points, both Arndt and her team mates can celebrate their World Cup success during the Rund um die Nurnberger Aldstadt race.

A former world champion, Olympic medallist, Arndt has won most major races during her career but had never won the World Cup. Now she has an almost complete palmares and is arguably the most success rider of her generation. She built her World Cup success by winning the Tour of Flanders and by finishing third in the Fleche-Wallonne race in the spring. She was also second in the Tour de Berne and won the Cycliste Feminine de Montreal race in Canada at the end of May.

Team Columbia’s success also came thanks to other rider’s placing in the world Cup standings. Chantal Beltman is currently sixth place, Ina Teutenberg is eighth and Luise Keller moved up to 12th after her second place in the GP Plouay.

“Our success gives us a lot of confidence that we’re working in the right way. It’s great that Judith has won the World Cup early and it’s very satisfying that the team has also won World Cup,” directeur sportif Ronny Lauke said.

“At the start of the season we didn’t target overall success in the World Cup but instead focused on winning the big races. The World Cup success came as a natural consequence of Judith’s consistent riding and the excellent support she got from the other riders in the team. We’ve won World Cup races with several different riders and won overall as well. We’re very proud of that.”

“There’s a lot of support within the team and an excellent team spirit, with riders always willing to help each other. Judith is the winner of the World Cup but she’s always helping other riders get results and learn too. An example of that is Luise Keller. She’s a good rider but is still young and still learning but thanks to the help of the team she’s improved a lot and will be a great rider in the future.”