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Wiggle High5 Pro Cycling’s Lisa Brennauer tightened her hold on the Yellow Jersey of the Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour, in Gotha, eastern Germany, despite coming under immense pressure from her General Classification rivals. The former German Champion finished third on the sixth stage as she was narrowly beaten by Elena Cecchini (Canyon-SRAM) as they sprinted for second place behind Cecchini’s teammate Alice Barnes. 
Brennauer now leads Ellen van Dijk (Team Sunweb) by seven seconds as they head into the final stage time trial. “It was really cool,” Brennauer said. "There was a breakaway going, and we had Macey [Stewart] in there, and they took about six minutes or something up the road. Julie [Leth] had to chase a bit - okay, not just a bit! We decided that we’d put her up there in front, and Sunweb also chased a bit to bring the time gap down. “Then we went onto a long climb, and Sunweb just took it fully from the front,” Brennauer added. “Martina and me, we were able to stay with them, and this was the break of the day. There was another climb, and at the top of this climb we caught the front group where Macey was, so then we were three. “It was a pretty good situation.” With the breakaway caught, Brennauer’s rivals then tried to put her under pressure but, with two teammates working hard for her, the former World Time Trial Champion was able to keep them under control. 
“Sunweb was still driving on the front, and then they started attacking a lot,” she explained. “So we shared the work as much as possible. Martina and Macey did so well; I was bossing around them, telling them when to go! “Then Alice Barnes attacked and she managed to stay away, and there was a sort of bunch sprint and I got third.” A six-second time bonus on the line - as well as a second from an intermediate sprint - means that Brennauer’s lead over van Dijk has increased to seven seconds with only the 18.7km final stage time trial remaining. The two former World Champions finished close together in last year’s corresponding stage, and it could be a close race between the two rivals once again. 
“It’s really exciting,” Brennauer said. “There’s no point getting nervous about it, I just have to go as hard as possible. “I’m super proud of how we’ve all ridden as a team this week and I really want to do my best for the girls.” Result Photo Credit: Vélofocus |
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