A new leader at the Giro di Thuringia women after the long time trial in Altenburg: Ruth Edwards wins hands down the duel with Margot Vanpachtenbeke and, in fact, secures the final success with a day to spare before the end of the race. The European road champion Mischa also celebrates Bredewold: partial success and 2nd place in the standings for the Dutchman from SD Worx.
Edwards wins head-to-head with Vanpachtenbeke
The profile of the 5th stage of Thüringen Ladies Tour – an individual time trial of 31.5 km around the town of Altenburg – it is very suitable for time trial specialists: long stretches of false piano to push the maximum ratio, a few really treacherous curves, some downhill excursions. The road becomes more demanding only in the last kilometres: first a climb -3 from the finish line, then the final paved ramp. And it is precisely here that the German Mieke Kroeger – competing with her national team – compromises the possibility of improving her ranking: a chain jump forces her to reach the finish line on foot, causing her to lose the provisional leadership in favor of her compatriot Franziska soda (Ceratizit), who improves his time by a few hundredths (44’28”).
Despite such a long race, the gaps are really small: the Finnish Annina Ahtosalo (Uno-X Mobility) momentarily climbs to the top with a 1″ margin over the Dutch Anneke Dijkstra (VolkerWessels), 10″ on the two home athletes and 11″ on the Australian Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal). The landscape changes radically with the arrival of the best: the Australian Brodie Chapman (Lidl-Trek) undermines Ahtosalo with a performance of 43’15”, temporarily leaving Austrian Christina behind Schweinberger (Alpecin-Fenix), 11″ seconds behind. The Spanish Mireia is even further back Benito (AG-Insurance, at 58″) and the Dutch Amber Crackrunning under the banner of his national team (at 1’01”). All that remains is to wait for the top of the ranking: the performance of the Dutch Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx) is solid and brilliant since the first intermediate, where she stops the hands at 19’56”. The trend is confirmed also at the finish: best time in 43’04”, a result almost certain despite the fact that the two candidates for the leader’s jersey, the American Ruth Edwards (Human Powered Health) and the Belgian Margot are still on the course Vanpachtenbeke (VolkerWessels). In truth, the challenge for the yellow jersey is one-sided: Edwards sets the time trial with a pace that allows her to contain the losses from Bredewold, while also maintaining an excellent position on the bike. On the contrary, Vanpachtenbeke – who curiously took part in the time trial without wearing the insignia of the primacy: a omen? – it seems too much rigid on the bike and, above all, she chooses an extremely agile gear which does not allow her to set up an effective pedal stroke. The response of the clock is merciless: 3’50” margin in favor of Edwards, who will also finish in 4th place.
All things considered, Bredewold wins the time trial in 43’04”, leaving behind Chapman (11″), Schweinberger (22″), Edwards (24″) and Benito (1’09”). 8th place for the Italian Letizia Bourgeois (EF Education-Cannondale), a 1’14” dalla leader.
On the eve of the last day of school, the former champion American in line will have to defend a margin of 2’06” on the Dutchman of SD Worx and 2’42” on the home Austrian Alpecin. Translated into simpler terms: only a twist of bad luck can take away the reign from Edwards (cycling, of course) on Thuringia.
The epilogue in Smalcalda on Sunday
On the other hand, the 6th fraction (start and finish at Smalcalda after 105.4 km) is essentially a carbon copy of the previous ones, although three GPMs are planned. Even the final circuit of 27.2 km – with the climb to Waldhausstrasse (2.2 km at 5.5%), positioned at -21 from the white line – should not prejudice a more or less compact epilogue.
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