[UPDATED] Teniel Campbell wins stage 6 of Tour de l'Ardeche

TTO OLYMPIC cyclist Teniel Campbell on Monday captured stage six of the Tour de l’Ardeche while representing the Women’s World Team BikeExchange, her first victory since joining the Australia-based team.

Incredibly, the 23-year-old did so on a borrowed bike after her bike and 11 others, all belonging to Team BikeExchange, were stolen on the morning of the fifth stage. The race was initially at risk but for rival competitors coming to the rescue by sharing spare equipment.

Campbell finished the 138km race in three hours, 33 minutes and 58 seconds, in a 12-competitor breakaway sprint, ahead of runner-up Nina Kessler (TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank) and Lauretta Hansono (Trek-Segafredo).

Campbell also escaped a crash on the final stretch and was faster than Kessler and Hansono in the sprint. Campbell was later quoted on the team’s website, saying, “It’s extremely special to win today in so many ways.

After what transpired with the bikes yesterday, how everyone kept calm and found solutions instead of freaking out. How everyone remained motivated throughout what seemed at first chaotic! Is completely unreal.

“It was a complete team effort from the chef keeping our tummies happy to the staff working tirelessly last night to prepare the bikes, to my team-mates chasing the breakaway to help me launch on away on a 700m climb over to the breakaway.

“It hurt like hell but the trust from the team and how well we were working these last days really motivated me and gave me a drive and strong urge to get a stage victory here,” she said.

“Each day we came with a plan to give each other opportunities, constantly backing each other.

“From the start of today the adrenaline and motivation amongst us was really high so I believe everything just transcended and there was an energy flow.

She said she will cherish her first win and remember it for a long time.

Speaking with Newsday following her win on Monday, former national cyclist and four-time Olympian Gene Samuel, lauded Campbell for her aggressiveness and strength to win, especially doing so on an unfamiliar bike.

“She was not just sitting down in the race–she was attacking them, attacking them, trying to get away. It is commendable all the way through.

Samuel also thanked the clubs and their athletes for selflessly sharing their equipment with the BikeExchange cyclists. “That is the camaraderie outside in the world that we do not have in Trinidad. Some of them (opponents) jeopardising their own continuation in the race and that is commendable. I would like to say a special thank you to all of those who loaned them their bikes.

“What’s even more commendable is that she raced on a different bike. Riding a different bike for five or 15 miles, far less for 100-plus miles, is commendable, a fantastic achievement today.”

The Tour de l’Ardèche will end on Tuesday, five days ahead of the World Road Cycling Championships, which take place in Belgium.

It has been an impressively successful week for the Campbell family after her brother, Akil Campbell, won gold in track cycling on Friday night in the men’s elimination race at the UCI Tissot Track Cycling Nations Cup.

This story has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

AFTER having her bike stolen overnight, Trinidad and Tobago Olympic cyclist Teniel Campbell captured gold during stage six of the Tour de l’Ardeche in Belgium on Monday using equipment she borrowed.

She represented the Women's World Team BikeExchange, earning her first victory since joining the Australia-based team.

Campbell finished the 138km race in three hours, 33 minutes and 58 seconds, in a 12-competitor breakaway sprint, ahead of runner-up Nina Kessler (TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank) and Lauretta Hansono (Trek-Segafredo).

But officials confirmed to Newsday that a number of the club's riders awoke on the morning of stage five to find 12 of their bikes had been stolen, putting their race at risk.

Fortunately, a number of rival competitors came to the rescue by sharing spare equipment.

Campbell escaped a crash on the final stretch and was faster than Kessler and Hanson in the sprint.

The Tour de l'Ardèche will end on Tuesday, five days ahead of the World Road Cycling Championships, which take place in Belgium.

It has otherwise been an impressively successful week for the Campbell family after her brother, Akil Campbell, won gold in track cycling on Friday night in the men's elimination race at the UCI Tissot Track Cycling Nations Cup.