Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx) secured a solo victory on stage 2 at the Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour. The Dutch all-rounder bridged across to the day's breakaway and then made her winning attack inside the last 10km to cross the finish line first in Gera.
SD Worx swept the podium as Bredewold finished 13 seconds ahead of the sprint, where her teammates Barbara Guarischi secured second and Lorena Wiebes third on the day.
It was the second victory for SD Worx after winning the stage 1 team time trial the previous day. Bredewold has moved into the overall race lead ahead of her teammates, Wiebes in second and overnight leader Lotte Kopecky in third.
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How it unfolded
The second stage at Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour was 153.5km in Gera. The route included two smaller loops that took the peloton passed an intermediate sprint in Wohlsdorf and a 1.1km climb over Dortendorf. The peloton then raced back toward Gera with a 2km climb over Otticha and a sprint in Brunnenstrasse, and then a 16km run-in to the finish line.
The race started with a flurry of attacks, but the peloton remained intact over the first climb, Dortendorf, with Alice Palazzi (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo) taking the full points over the top. Palazzi was joined by Gina Ricardo (Team Bridgelane).
On the next short loop, Palazzi again took full points over the top of the Dortendorf climb, as Ricardo struggled to hold the pace and the peloton closed down on the duo.
SD Worx led the charge from the field, splitting the peloton with 75km to go, but the group appeared to be difficult to control with attacks coming from Parkhotel Valkenburg and Canyon-SRAM.
Quinty Schoens (Parkhotel Valkenburg) launched an attack out of the field and successfully bridged across to the breakaway riders Palazzi and Ricardo.
A chase group of three formed behind that included Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-SRAM), Elizabeth Holden (UAE Team ADQ) and Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx). The move didn't last long, and the trio, along with Ricardo, who had been dropped from the break, were reeled back into the field with 60km to go.
Amandine Fouquenet (Arkéa Pro Cycling Team) and Bredewold were the next to attempt a bridge to Palazzi and Schoens, and although they gained nearly 30 seconds on the field, they never made it across to the breakaway.
Schoens picked up the pace and distanced Palazzi with 50km to go, pushing her own lead out to three minutes ahead of the final climb over Otticha with roughly 33km to go.
Schoens picked up the full mountain points over the top of Otticha, but her gap fell fast as a chase group of three emerged behind that included Bredewold, Alena Ivanchenko (UAE Team ADQ) and Katharina Fox (Maxx-Solar Rose).
Bredewold, Ivanchenko and Fox joined Schoen to form a lead group of four in the last 17km of the race, and the quartet held a slim 30-second lead on the field.
Bredewold launched her winning attack out of the breakaway, as the remaining three were caught by the field led by AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep and Jayco-AlUla.
The Dutch rider held on for the stage victory and moved into the overall lead ahead of stage 3 in Schmölln.
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