Visser victorious in Greiz

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Adrie Visser (HTC-Columbia) sprinted to victory in stage three of Germany's Thuringen Rundfahrt on Thursday. The Dutchwoman bested Iris Slappendel (Cervélo TestTeam) and Marta Bastianelli (Fenixs-Petrogradets) in a small group sprint that decided the 128.7km circuit starting and finishing in Greiz.

"I'm feeling a lot more confident about my sprinting recently and that's made all the difference," said Visser. "Today I was away in a group of 11 with [teammates] Luise [Keller] and Noemi Cantele, so we were in a very good position strategically. It was a tough day, with maybe 1,800 metres of climbing in total, but after doing well in the previous stages, I felt good.

"Luise attacked 1,500 metres from the line, then Noemi led me through the pack from 500 metres to 200 metres to go. After all that hard work all I had to do was lift myself out of the saddle and use all the power I've got to get the win.

"It's my first win as an HTC-Columbia rider and it's a very good feeling finally to get that victory," said Visser. "Now we'll see what Noemi can do in the overall. She's third overall and with tomorrow's 19km time trial and two more tough days after that, I think she's got a good chance."