Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour: Emma Norsgaard wins stage 1

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Emma Norsgaard (Movistar) won the opening stage and claimed the first leader’s jersey of the Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour. The Danish champion won the breakaway sprint ahead of Lucinda Brand (Trek-Segafredo) and Lotte Kopecky (Belgium National Team) in Schmölln.

Norsgaard, Brand and Kopecky were part of a large and decisive breakaway that had formed earlier in the race, and that contested the closing kilometres of the circuit-style opening stage.

The 17-rider front group split apart in the final three kilometres with Norsgaard securing the stage win and the event’s first leader’s jersey.

“This team is unbelievable. Yes, I know I say it every time I win, but this team is crazy good. I’m so proud to be a part of this, and today it was incredible, really. The way they worked, to get us back into contention after that early break so I could bridge back, was so good, I’m just so, so happy," Norsgaard said in a post-race interview.

“Once I got through that final QOM, the last kilometer was mostly downhill, on cobblestones, and to be honest, I was so scared with that finish. With 1k to go I just took the front, thinking: ‘Ok, hopefully nobody will pass me’. In the end, it paid off!

“I don’t know if it’s easier to win or not now that I’ve got those Luxembourg victories behind me, but as a team, we have such a great spirit and we’re willing to sacrifice everything for each other. This is what makes the victory easier, from my point of view.

“Now that we have the leader’s jersey, of course we have to defend it and work hard, but with this team, everything is possible. I feel like this is the best team I could have, so I’m not nervous at all.”

The Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour continues at stage 2 on Wednesday with a 125km race in Gera.

How it unfolded

The opening stage of the Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour offered the peloton an 88.9km on three large circuits that started and finished in Schmölln. There were two ascents of the Zum Wasserturn (600 metres at 7.5 per cent) and two intermediate sprints on laps 1 and 2 of the circuits.

Early crashes and mechanicals marred the beginning of the race but the field was intact heading into the first climb over Zum Wasserturn at the 24km into the stage. 

Defending champion Kathrin Hammes (Ceratizit-WNT) took full points atop the climb followed by Liane Lippert (Team DSM) and Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo), who has just returning to racing after struggling with illness all spring.

Following the first climb, a group of 11 riders cleared the main field to include Hammes, Deignan and Lippert, along with Amy Pieters (SD Worx), Anna Henderson (Jumbo-Visma), Emilia Fahlin (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope), Kristen Faulkner (TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank), Alexis Ryan (Canyon-SRAM), Clara Kloppenburg (Germany), and Valerie Demey (Belgium).

Deignan picked up full points at the first intermediate sprint at the 27km mark, followed by Fahlin and Henderson.

The peloton rounded the second lap and hit the next ascent at Zum Wasserturn at 54km into the stage with Lippert picking up full points from the breakaway ahead of Deignan and Pieters.

The main field crested the climb, just 30 seconds behind the breakaway, and at a blistering pace that caused many riders to lose contact and fall off the back with just 30km to the finish.

Up in the breakaway, Pieters crossed the line first in the second and final intermediate sprint ahead of Henderson and Deignan. Significant attacks came from the main field, which allowed riders to bridge across and the breakaway to grow to 17 riders. 

New additions to the front group were Norsgaard and Brand, along with Christine Majerus (SD Worx), Audrey Cordon Ragot (Trek-Segafredo), Romy Kasper (Jumbo-Visma), and Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM).

The large front group entered the final 20km with 30 seconds in hand, and the increased their lead to 40 seconds with 10km from the finish line. However, with the pace so high, gaps started to open among the leaders and inside the final 3km there were only nine riders left to contest the downhill sprint won by Norsgaard.