Ina Teutenberg (Specialized-lululemon) took an important pre-Olympic sprint victory in the first stage of the 2012 Thüringen-Rundfahrt, in Neustadt/Orla. The former German champion was fastest at the end of the hilly 114km stage, ahead of Dutch former teammate Adrie Visser (Skil-Argos) in second place, with Swedish champion Emma Johansson (Hitec Products-Mistral Home) in third.
Time bonuses on the finish line, as well as a number accrued at the stage’s three intermediate sprints, saw defending champion Johansson take the lead from prologue winner Hanka Kupfernagel (RusVelo).
"I'm really happy with the win," said Teutenberg. "The girls were active all day and did a great lead-out for the sprint. It's probably the best lead-out we've done as a team all year.
"It was hard out there with the wind," she added. "It was fast all day and the bunch was continually splitting up. But I felt good out there and I'm happy I was able to finish it off at the end."
The peloton stayed together for the first half of the stage, as a number of early breaks were thwarted, with Claudia Häusler (Orica-GreenEdge) winning the first mountain sprint, ahead of Kupfernagel and British champion Sharon Laws (AA Drink-Leontien.nl). The first sprint was then taken by Law’s teammate Lizzie Armitstead, ahead of German champion Judith Arndt (Orica-GreenEdge), with Johansson third.
There was then an attempted breakaway from Johansson’s Italian teammate Elisa Longo Borghini, Liesbet De Vocht (Rabobank), Chloe Hosking (Specialized-lululemon) and Elena Cecchini (MCipollini-Giambenini), but they were not able to get a gap sufficient to stay away.
Häusler again beat Kupfernagel to the mountain sprint, with Amber Neben (Specialized-lululemon) taking third. Kupfernagel won the third however, with Malgorzata Jasinska (MCipollini-Giambenini) taking second, ahead of Häusler, which meant that the prologue winner would keep the mountain jersey she won the day before.
As rain fell Johansson, Jasinska and Häusler both got away as part of a breakaway group, along with Clara Hughes (Specialized-lululemon) and Oksana Kozonchuk (BePink), with Kupfernagel’s teammate Romy Kasper there to protect her leader. They managed to get 40 seconds clear but, with no real cohesion in the group, they were caught in the final ten kilometres.
Chloe Hosking (Specialized-lululemon), Sara Mustonen (Hitec Products-Mistral Home) and 2007 World champion Marta Bastianelli (MCipollini-Giambenini) tried to escape in the closing kilometres but, with Kupfernagel herself leading the peloton, they were unable to get clear, and the race was headed for the sprint.
Result stage 1
1. Ina Teutenberg (Ger) Specialized-lululemon
2. Adrie Visser (Ned) Skil-Argos
3. Emma Johansson (Swe) Hitec Products-Mistral Home
4. Marta Tagliaferro (Ita) MCipollini-Giambenini
5. Trixi Worrack (Ger) Specialized-lululemon
6. Amy Pieters (Ned) Skil-Argos
7. Judith Arndt (Ger) Orica-GreenEdge
8. Elizabeth Armitstead (GBr) AA Drink-Leontien.nl
9. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Hitec Products-Mistral Home
10. Sarah Düster (Ger) Stichting Rabobank
Standings after stage 1
1. Emma Johansson (Swe) Hitec Products-Mistral Home
2. Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) RusVelo @ 3s
3. Judith Arndt (Ger) Orica-GreenEdge @ 4s
4. Elizabeth Armitstead (GBr) AA Drink-Leontien.nl @ 5s
5. Ina Teutenberg (Ger) Specialized-lululemon @ 9s
6. Trixi Worrack (Ger) Specialized-lululemon @ 11s
7. Amy Pieters (Ned) Skil-Argos @ 15s
8. Adrie Visser (Ned) Skil-Argos @ 16s
9. Oksana Kozonchuk (Rus) BePink @ 20s
10. Sarah Düster (Ger) Stichting Rabobank @ 21s