Martina Fidanza (Ceratizit WNT) outsprinted Barbara Guarischi (SD Worx-Protime) by almost a bike length to win stage 2 of LOTTO Thüringen Ladies Tour in Gera on Wednesday. Rounding out the Italian podium in third was Maria Guilia Confalonieri (Uno-X Mobility).
Margot Vanpachtenbeke (Volker Wessels) defended her yellow jersey and leads the GC by four seconds ahead of Ruth Winder (Human Powered Health), who is in second place, and Franziska Brauße (Ceratizit WNT) who holds third.
Afterwards, the stage winner Martina Fidanza revealed that she almost didn’t start the tour. “I felt sick two days ago and actually wanted to cancel the tour. But my team motivated me. Now I’m very happy. But the day was very, very hard with the two climbs. I’m a sprinter.”
With hotter temperatures at the start of stage 2, the peloton was content to take it easy in the opening kilometers and there were no major attacks.
The first QoM classification near Dörtendorf on the Hanka Mountain was easily taken by Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM).
It wasn’t until around 43 kilometers from the finish that a group of 17 slipped away with Romy Kasper (Human Powered Health) driving the pace. This group’s lead increased to 30 seconds and looked like the winning break, however, they were swallowed up by the peloton with less than 3km remaining.
In the final 500 meters, Ceratizit WNT was able to put Martina Fidanza on the front and she led out the sprint going into the final corner, just missing the barriers, and drove it to the line. On her wheel, Barbara Guarischi tried her best to come around her but came up short and had to settle for second.
RESULTS
Stage 2: Gera > Gera (119.2km)
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
