Villumsen Scores the Hat-Trick for Columbia-highroad
First Andre Greipel won for Columbia-Highroad in Holland, then Mark Cavendish did the same in Switzerland - and finally Linda Villumsen made a spectacularly successful day for Columbia-Highroad even more special by snapping up the team’s third victory in the space of just a few hours.
Villumsen was the fastest in the opening prologue of the Raboster stage race in Holland, a 7.1 kilometre time trial held in the late evening in the town of Vlissingen.
Her victory came just hours after Columbia-Highroad’s Andre Greipel had powered to a stage win in the Ster-ElektroToer in Holland and team-mate Mark Cavendish had done the same in another bunch sprint in the Tour of Switzerland.
Villumsen’s victory was no less impressive. Despite the time trial course being very short, the Danish rider opened up a margin of 5.5 seconds on second-placed Loes Gunnewijk of the Flexpoint team. Columbia-Highroad women’s team turned in a remarkably strong collective performance in the Dutch stage race, placing four riders in the top ten and five in the top 15.
Team-mates Ina-Yoko Teutenberg, Chantal Beltman and Ellen Van Dijk finished fourth, fifth, and seventh respectively, whilst Emilia Fahlin was thirteenth.
“I knew the course well and I was motivated because I won on the same time trial circuit three years ago,” Villumsen said afterwards. “It was very technical, with a lot of roundabouts and corners, and quite windy too, so knowing it was definitely an advantage. There weren’t any real tactics, just a question of going all out 100 percent and seeing how you did.”
With the racing starting in the early evening and not finishing until nearly 10 pm, Villumsen said it had been a long wait through the day.
“Ina and I went training early on and then we did some shopping to try and kill some time. Fortunately it was worth waiting for the race!”
Villumsen plans to defend her overall lead as well as possible in the two remaining days racing, but she says the team’s main objective will be “to fight for the stage wins.”
“We’ve got a strong line-up here, with Ina-Yoko and Emilia for the sprints, and there are some time bonuses to fight for, too. So going for the stages will be our big goal. But whatever happens, I’m really pleased - and it’s amazing that the team has got so many victories in just one day.”
Columbia-Highroad’s total of victories for the men’s and women’s teams this season has now reached 67, with ten of those first places coming in the last seven days.
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