Pooley takes charge of Tour de l'Ardeche after stage three win
British rider Emma Pooley won stage three of the Tour de l'Ardeche in France on Wednesday afternoon to move into the overall lead of the race.
Defending 2011 Tour de l'Ardeche champion Pooley's solo win in the afternoon's 91.7km road stage came after she placed second in the morning's short individual time trial.
The AA Drink-leontien.nl rider now heads up the general classification, one minute and 29 seconds clear of second-placed Ashley Moolman (Lotto Belisol), who won the morning's TT. American Kristin McGrath (USA National team) is third overall at 1-36.
British national road race champion Sharon Laws (AA Drink-leontien.nl) is 12th overall, 2-14 adrift of Pooley.
Three stages of the race remain, kicking off with today's (Thursday) hilly trip from St Sauveur de Montagut to Cruas. The UCI 2.2-ranked race concludes on Saturday, September 8.
Tour de l'Ardeche 2012
Overall classification after stage three
1. Emma Pooley (GBr) AA Drink-leontien.nl
2. Ashley Moolman (RSA) Lotto-Belisol at 1-29
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3. Kristin McGrath (USA) USA at 1-36
4. Taylor Wiles (USA) USA at 1-41
5. Rachel Neylan (Aus) Mixed Team 1 at 1-46
6. Leah Kirchmann (Can) Canada at 1-55
7. Noemi Cantele (Ita) BePink at 1-59
8. Oxana Kozonchuk (Rus) BePink at 2-00
9. Karol-Ann Canuel (Can) Vienne-Futuroscope at 2-06
10.
Petra Dijkman (Ned) Mixed Team 1 at 2-12
Other
12. Sharon Laws (GBr) AA Drink-leontien.nl at 2-14
Related links
AA Drink squad to fold at end of year
Sharon Laws wins national road race title
Pooley: where is our Team Sky?
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Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.