The opening stage of Internationale Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen ended in a sprint finish with Lotta Lepistö finishing second and Carmen Small fourth. The day was won by Velocio-SRAM’s Lisa Brennauer.

The race took place over 66 kilometres. Several riders tried to attack, however, significant breakaways got a real gap.

In the closing kilometres of the race, Vera Koedooder was involved in an eight-rider move but that too was shut down.

“It was really windy today,” Lepistö said after the finish. “The start was sketchy. There were a lot of attacks going on. There were a few groups going off the front but none of them stuck. Carmen did an amazing job in the leadout for me. I just couldn’t follow Lisa in the last 100 metres and couldn’t close to the gap to her. Tomorrow is a new day and we try again.”

Small has been brought onto the team to boost the leadout sprints and to utilize her time trial abilities. This is her second race for the team after completing the Giro Rosa last week.

“We had really good team work today,” Small said. “We did a solid leadout for Lotta. The race was a little slow but really good in the last 5 kilometres from the team. The finish was super technical but Lotta did a good job to stay on my wheel. Lisa was just stronger today. We’re already looking forward to tomorrow.”

Stage 2 will be raced over 103,3 kilometres. The profiles features hilly and flat sections. The sprinters will look to have their day again, as the run-in to the line is flat and with the finish held on broad roads.

Photo: GreenBerry Media