Marta Lach takes her third podium in three days at Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour
Another third place for Marta Lach and a win in the first intermediate sprint secures her position as second on GC as we head into the final stage, with just 31" separating her and Alex Manly of Bike Exchange-Jayco.
With the first of three intermediate sprints coming within 15.5km of racing, the fast start to proceedings saw few attacks until we approached the longest climb of the stage. Yuliia Biriukova of Arkea Samsic then managed to break free of the peloton and forge a gap of around 1'. The chase behind combined with the rolling terrain split the bunch with Lach making it into the front group, and Lisa Brennauer, Maria Giulia Confalonieri and Lin Teutenberg in the second group on the road.
Biriukova managed to hold her advantage to the line, leaving Manly and Lach to sprint for the last spots on the podium.
Lach thanked her teammates for their work after the stage: "I am happy with today’s result because it was a really hard stage. In the beginning, the team helped me fight for the sprint and the extra 3 bonus seconds, and thanks to them, I made it. I am super thankful for that. After that, the climb made a big difference and the bunch split into pieces. I felt good and made it into the front group. The girls were trying to come back to help me but because of the wind and the pace of our group, it just didn’t happen. In the end, I was third and I stay second on GC so it’s a good place to be. I am still hoping for a stage win tomorrow!"
CERATIZIT WNT DS, Steffen Radochla: "It was another hard stage with a tough climb in the first 30km. Marta survived the climb with a group of 22 riders and we were trying to chase behind to help her but couldn't come back. We lost the second card on GC but we have secured second place so we go into the final stage in a strong position."