World's top team confirmed for New Zealand biggest women’s international sporting event.
Champ return to Wellington
11 February 2008
A double dose of good news for the organizers of the New Zealand Community Trust Women’s Tour that begins later this month.
2007 tour winner JUDITH ARNDT form Germany has confirmed she will be returning to defend her title with leading European professional team, High Road (formerly T-Mobile from Germany).
The High Road team is aiming high in 2008 with a world-class roster of eleven riders from six nations. For the 2008 team roster, leading German riders Ina-Yoko Teutenberg and former World Champion Judith Arndt stay with the team. They will be joined by Australian Oenone Wood, Linda Villumsen from Denmark and Chantal Beltman from The Netherlands
“We are an International team and proud of it,” says team owner Bob Stapleton. “We are open to committed athletes from wherever they come from. One of the simple pleasures of this team is the international diversity and personal character each athlete brings to the team. We have an outstanding international roster of exciting young talent backed by proven veteran leadership for 2008," adds Stapleton.
JUDITH ARNDT, the defending champion, is known in the women's peloton as one of the best and most consistent female riders in the world. She is 18 time German Champion at events ranging from the pursuit on the track to the road race. She is also a former World Champion in both the pursuit and the road race and Olympic medalist on both track and road. She has won World Cups in Montreal, Wales and Rotterdam and placed at many more. Arndt has won some of the toughest women's stage races in the world including Tour de l'Aude, Hewlett Packard and Thuringen, as well as winning stages in the women's Tour de France, the Giro, Montreal and many others.
Current Australian national road champion Oenone Wood is the biggest new name on the roster and though she is still relatively new to cycling she has already achieved so much. In her few years in the peloton she has won the World Cup Series twice, claimed a couple of National Titles, a Commonwealth Title and represented Australia at the Olympics. She is a power rider and excels at tough one day races and short steep climbs.
German Ina-Yoko Teutenberg is a rider with a huge amount of experience and a fiery personality. She started racing when she was 6 years old because she didn't want to miss out on anything her older brothers did and from a young age she was beating the older and bigger boys. Her strength is in the sprints, but her preference is to make the race as hard as possible and win out of a break. In the last few years she has won multiple World Cup races and over the years she has won 11 stages of Tour de l'Aude, 6 stages of the women's Tour de France and stage wins in all other major tours around the world including three in the 2007 Women’s Tour of New Zealand.
Chantal Beltman from the Netherlands is one of the most experienced riders on the team and also a very calming influence on everyone. Her professional attitude has taken her far in cycling where she has won stages in almost all the major stage races on the circuit and taken wins in both Sweden and Rotterdam World Cup races. Coming from the land of hard classics, these are her specialty and her goal throughout the year. She is also the perfect teammate and is instrumental in every win with her tactical prowess and selfless attitude. She has also been a key teammate in the Olympic gold and World Championship gold medals of her National teammates over the years. Her goal for '08 is to have another successful season with the team and to make the Olympic Team.
Dane Linda Villumsen is a European and Danish Champion; Linda is bound to be one of the remarkable riders of the future. As a 22 year old she has already achieved a lot including two Danish Titles, two European Titles and the overall win at Route de France. She is an all round rider who is good on the climbs and excels in time trials.
“We have strengthened the squad considerably and I’m convinced that we’ll be up there with the world’s best teams and we will win many races”, team manager Kristy Scrymgeour said.
“The team was strong in 2007 and we intend to follow up and expand on that. We want to make our mark on the stage-races like the Tour of New Zealand again and our goal is simple - to win as often as possible,” Scrymgeour said.
Race Director Jorge Sandoval is thrilled with the news.
"Having the team currently considered to be one of the best in the world racing here in New Zealand again is great for the sport and for our event," he said.
"The New Zealand Community Trust Women’s Tour of NZ is already looking like being bigger and better than last year, and that's fantastic for everyone involved. The better we can make it, the more international exposure both the race, and New Zealand, will receive. It's going to be big."
The NZCT Women’s Tour of New Zealand takes place from 27 February to 2 March 2008.