The American Ruth Winder has won the 36th edition of the women's Tour of Thuringia. The 30-year-old from the Human Powered Health cycling team crossed the finish line on Sunday with a chasing group and thus confidently defended her yellow jersey, which she had won the day before in the individual time trial. She was 2:06 minutes ahead of Dutch rider Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx-Protime) and 2:59 minutes ahead of Brodie Chapman (Australia/Lidl-Trek). It was the fourth victory for a USA rider in the history of the Tour. The best German rider was Linda Riedemann in 16th place overall.
The final stage win on Sunday in the 105.4-kilometre Rund um Schmalkalden race was won by Sandra Alonso from the German team Ceratizit WNT Pro Cycling as a breakaway rider with a two-second lead over Maggie Cokes-Lyster (Canada) from the Swiss Team Roland and Lucinda Brand (Netherlands) from Team Lidl-Trek.
Winder always on the pace
Winder was always on top of the action during the race. In sometimes pouring rain, she was part of the most important breakaway groups even without the support of her teammates and defended her two-minute lead more reliably than expected. Only when the Spaniard Alonso started two kilometers before the finish did Winder abandon the chase, but still finished in seventh place.
