And then there were two. Trixi Worrack (Specialized-Lululemon) and Judith Arndt (GreenEdge-AIS) escaped in the closing kilometres and shared the spoils on day two of the ladies Tour of Qatar.
Once away, they proved to be one of the most effective German partnerships since Mercedes and Benz, putting over two minutes into the opposition. Worrack won the stage, compatriot Arndt put on the leader's jersey.
Two seconds separate the pair. The fight for overall race victory will go down to intermediate sprint and finish line bonus seconds in Doha tomorrow.
Wild shot out
"Yesterday, I was pretty upset with how they acted tactically," Specialized-Lululemon team directeur sportif Jens Zemke told CW at the finish. "Today, we had three girls in the front group, we had to attack, attack, attack, super. They did everything right."
"My plan was simple: to follow them all," a disappointed Wild said at the finish. She was eventually overwhelmed, but broke away from the bunch late on with fellow countrywoman Adrie Visser to finish fourth.
"We had attacked twenty times," Worrack told CW. "This time, I went, saw Judith was 100 metres behind me and waited: it doesn't make sense to go alone in this wind. I can't imagine anyone better, Judith is world time trial champion and so strong."
Specialized off the mark
Worrack's British teammate Katie Colclough rode strongly too, finishing twelfth.
Results
Ladies Tour of Qatar, stage two: Al Zubara Fort to Madinat Al Shamal, 114.5km
1. Trixi Worrack (Ger) Specialized-Lululemon 3-05-37
General classification after stage two
1. Judith Arndt (Ger) GreenEdge-AIS 5-22-12
Related linksWild uses wiles to win Qatar opener
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