Movistar were the most active team on stage 3 of the Tour of Britain Women from Mold to The Great Orme in Llandudno, doing a lot of work to reduce the peloton on the hilly route through North Wales.
The Spanish team was rewarded with a second place from German racer Liane Lippert, who delivered one of her best results of the season on the steep slopes of the climb overlooking Llandudno by the Irish Sea coast.
She praised her teammates, including the likes of Aude Biannic and Sara Martín, for setting her up for the run-in, but said that nothing could be done to follow stage winner and new GC leader Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal), who launched her winning move just as the ascent hit its toughest slopes, 2.6km from the line.
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"I'm really proud of my teammates. We knew it was the best stage for me of all five, so we put in a big effort, and it was really worth it," Lippert told Cyclingnews at the finish.
"The whole bunch came back in the final, which made it a bit more hectic, but they positioned me well. It's just a shame I wasn't on Kim's wheel in the final corner into the climb; that was my goal.
"But I did the best possible effort and tried to keep the gap as close as possible."
Lippert ended the day 13 seconds down on Le Court-Pienaar, who is in such strong form that she took third on Thursday's flat sprint into Blackpool. As such, there was little that could be done to stop her here, though the hectic start of the climb did prove an obstacle.
After the scenic run around Marine Drive, Le Court-Pienaar went through the hairpin turn at the bottom of the finishing climb in perfect position, while Lippert and those behind her were slightly held up.
"There was also almost a crash of Lorena Wiebes, which made me and everyone else slow down," Lippert said.
"It was a bit unlucky, but honestly, [Le Court-Pienaar] was super strong. She saw that we all had a gap, so of course she kept on going, and I couldn't close the gap to her."
With two stages left to run in the race, Lippert is now 26 seconds behind Le Court-Pienaar in GC and nine seconds up on Wiebes in third.
Second overall would be Lippert's best GC result since the 2022 Tour of Scandinavia, and she acknowledged that taking the green leader's jersey off the Mauritian champion will be a challenge.
"It's hard. For sure, she's going to try to defend the jersey, and there's no uphill finish anymore. We will do a meeting later, and we will try."
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