Marta Lach sprints to second place

On her 25th Birthday, Marta Lach sprinted on the 3. Stage of Lotte Thüringen Ladies Tour to a great 2nd place. Alex Manly from Team Bike-Exchange wins again the stage.

Today, the Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour started in Dörtendorf to hilly 129,2km. The riders had to manage 5 laps of 22,8km. The stage was bristled with 4 queen of the mountain’s sprints and 4 intermediate sprints.

After all the intermediate sprints were done with 30km to go, we had two breakaways attempts by Team Fassa Bortolo, but the riders could not get more than 2:00. In the peloton Team Bike Exchange, Team LeColl-Wahoo, Team Parkhotel Valkenburg and CERATIZIT-WNT Pro Cycling Team where taking control and got the breakaway back. In the last lap the teams grouped together to keep their protected rider in position. Also, Lisa Brennauer, Lin Teutenberg and Maria Giulia Confalonieri orchestrate a very good run in into the last hill for Marta Lach, who found herself in a very good starting point at the beginning of the last climb and 1000m to go to the finish line. She went head-to-head with Alex Manly, but Manly had the bigger reserves and sprinted to victory.

Marta Lach: “The team did an amazing job; they were riding unbelievable. Clea and Franzi worked so hard at the beginning to reduce the bunch. Lisa, Lin and Maria Giulia took control in the last two laps and did position me always very well into the descent and the hill to keep me out of trouble. I felt very safe and protected.

Tomorrow, we have the 4th stage on the program and the tour heads to Schleiz. The race will start at 12:15 pm to a 127km loop with 2 intermediate sprint and 2 queen of the mountain sprints. It will be a very tiring round with almost 1600 meters of elevation. The finish is expected around 15:45 pm. Eurosport and GCN will broadcast from 14:00 – 16:00 CET.