Armitstead, Muccioli, Brand, Numainville, Worrack and De Vocht among the new champions
Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans) managed to overcome the numerical superiority of Wiggle Honda riders Laura Trott and Dani King in the final lap of the Great Britain championships in Glasgow, Scotland, to reclaim the red, white and blue banded jersey. The Yorkshirewoman attacked on the steepest climb of the rolling 14.2km circuit to finish more than a minute clear, with Trott outsprinting King to take silver.
The Italian championships was marred by a serious crash from Elisa Longo Borghini (Hitec Products) in the final three kilometres, as the Trofeo Binda winner suffered a serious abdominal wound and a suspected fractured pelvis as she hit the safety barriers at the side of the road. Longo Borghini’s breakaway companion Dalia Muccioli (Be Pink) managed to hold off the chasing group to take her first tricolore, with former two-time World champion Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle Honda) taking silver ahead of Rossella Ratto (Hitec Products).
A 100km breakaway from Lucinda Brand (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) earned the 23-year-old the driekleur as her teammates marked out the chasers behind her. Poor luck for Ellen van Dijk (Specialized-lululemon) saw her rear derailleur snap off during a wheel change, knocking her out of the race, which freed World champion Marianne Vos and outgoing national champion Annemiek van Vleuten (both Rabobank-Liv/Giant) to fight for the silver medal. An exhausted van Vleuten was forced to give up the chase of Brand, but was able to muster a sprint against Vos, but the World and Olympic champion easily took second place.
Joëlle Numainville (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) followed her Canadian time trial championship win the day before with victory in the road race in Saint-Georges, Québéc. The 25-year-old Québécoise managed to come back from a puncture in the final five kilometres to finish a second clear of the sprint for second, which was taken by her Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies teammate Leah Kirchmann, ahead of Lex Albrecht (NOW and Novartis for MS).
Trixi Worrack (Specialized-lululemon) put an unfortunate spring behind her as she took her first ever German road race title in Wangen im Allgäu, in southern Germany. The 31-year-old was the fastest of a group of ten riders that arrived at the finish together, outsprinting Elke Genhardt (Argos-Shimano) and Romy Kasper (Boels-Dolmans) into the silver and bronze medal spots.
Emilia Fahlin (Hitec Products) and Liesbet De Vocht (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) both took their second national titles in the Swedish and Belgian championships respectively. Fahlin narrowly outsprinted outgoing champion Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS), to end the 29-year-old’s three-year reign, after a long, solo break from Johansson had been chased down by her rivals.
Great Britain national road race championship
1. Elizabeth Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans)
2. Laura Trott (Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling)
3. Dani King (Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling)
4. Joanna Rowsell (Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling)
5. Emma Trott (Boels-Dolmans)
Italian national road race championship
1. Dalia Muccioli (Be Pink)
2. Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling)
3. Rossella Ratto (Hitec Products)
4. Fabiana Luperini (Faren-Let’s Go Finland)
5. Jennifer Fiori (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo)
Netherlands national road race championship
1. Lucinda Brand (Rabobank-Liv/Giant)
2. Marianne Vos (Rabobank-Liv/Giant)
3. Annemiek van Vleuten (Rabobank-Liv/Giant)
4. Amy Pieters (Argos-Shimano)
5. Vera Koedooder (Sengers Ladies)
Canadian national road race championship
1. Joëlle Numainville (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)
2. Leah Kirchmann (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)
3. Lex Albrecht (NOW and Novartis for MS)
4. Karol-Ann Kanuel (Vienne-Futuroscope)
5. Laura Brown (Colavita-Fine Cooking)
German national road race championship
1. Trixi Worrack (Specialized-lululemon)
2. Elke Gebhardt (Argos-Shimano)
3. Romy Kasper (Boels-Dolmans)
4. Claudia Häusler (Team Tibco-To The Top)
5. Anna-Bianca Schnitzmeier (Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling)
Swedish national road race championship
1. Emilia Fahlin (Hitec Products)
2. Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS)
3. Jessica Kihlbom (Cramo Go:Green)
4. Sara Olsson
5. Madelene Olsson (Cramo Go:Green)
Belgian national road race championship
1. Liesbet De Vocht (Rabobank-Liv/Giant)
2. Maaike Polspoel (Sengers Ladies)
3. Sofie De Vuyst (Sengers Ladies)
4. Jessie Daams (Boels-Dolmans)
5. Kaat Hannes (Lotto-Belisol)
French national road race championship
1. Elise Delzenne (Bourgogne Pro Dialog)
2. Amélie Rivat (Vienne-Futuroscope)
3. Aude Biannic (Equipe DN Bretagne)
4. Christel Ferrier-Bruneau (Faren-Let’s Go Finland)
5. Audrey Cordon (Vienne Futuroscope)
Spanish national road race championship
1. Ane Santesteban (Bizkaia-Durango)
2. Maria Mayalen Noriega (Bizkaia-Durango)
3. Lucia Gonzalez (Lointek)
4. Leire Olaberria
5. Sheyla Gutierrez (Lointek)
Russian national road race championship
1. Svetlana Stolbova (Team Pratomagno Women)
2. Oksana Kozonchuk (RusVelo)
3. Aizhan Zhaparova (RusVelo)
4. Irina Molicheva (Team Pratomagno Women)
5. Alexandra Chekina
Luxembourg national road race championship
1. Christine Majerus (Sengers Ladies)
2. Nathalie Lamborelle (Bigla Cycling Team)
3. Chatal Hoffmann (De Sprinters Malderen)
4. Claire Faber
5. Edie Entonia Rees
Switzerland national road race championship
1. Doris Schweizer (Be Pink)
2. Sandra Weiss (Bigla Cycling Team)
3. Emilie Aubry (Bigla Cycling Team)
4. Riccarda Mazzotta
5. Nicole Hanselmann (Bigla Cycling Team)
Irish national road race championship
1. Melanie Späth (Team Tibco-To The Top)
2. Siobhan McNamara
3. Mary Costelloe
4. Lydia Boylan (Team CTC)
5. Tonya Moran
Norwegian national road race championship
1. Cecile Gotaas Johnsen (Hitec Products)
2. Miriam Bjørnsrud (Hitec Products)
3. Emilie Moberg (Hitec Products)
Japanese national road race championship
1. Eri Yonamine
2. Hiromi Kaneko
3. Mayuko Hagiwara (Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling)