Worrack claims stage two, Arndt moves into overall

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Trixi Worrack of Specialized-lululemon won a two-woman sprint ahead of GreenEdge's Judith Arndt at the end of the second stage of the Ladies Tour of Qatar, but the German Arndt used her second-place finish to claim the overall lead. Former leader Kirsten Wild (Netherlands) finished third on the stage.

“Today was definitely better than yesterday,” said Arndt. “The final didn’t go our way yesterday. Today we put a lot of work into the race. It took a lot in the end to get rid of Kirsten Wild. She’s very dangerous because she’s the top sprinter here. In the end, it worked out.”

Arndt took four seconds at the intermediate sprints, and six seconds at the finish to move into the lead by two seconds.  Worrack picked up 10 seconds to move into second place.

The 114.5-kilometre stage between Zubara Fort and Madinat Al Shamal was marked by  a lead group which changed fairly constantly as racers fought strong winds.

“The lead group kept changing,” said GreenEdge sport director Dave McPartland. “There were different groups up the road throughout the race. We had Judith in the front for both intermediate sprints, and Loes Gunnewijk was up there for awhile, too. When Gunnewijk came back, Judith went up the road with the final move.”

Arndt and Worrack got away shortly after setting off on the final lap of the day. It was what GreenEdge considered a “perfect combination.”

“I had hoped Arndt would get away with Worrack,” McPartland said. “Earlier, she was in another move with Worrack that included [Kirsten] Wild (Netherlands National Team) and [Adrie] Visser (Skil 1T41). They’re both sprinters, so this wasn’t ideal. When Arndt went away with Worrack, it was perfect for us. As soon as the gap opened, I worked out that Judith would be the leader if the pair came to the finish together.”

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