Ellen van Dijk took Team Sunweb’s third stage victory at Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour, racing to victory in the colours of European Time Trial Champion on the seventh and final stage. With the result, she sealed her second place overall behind Lisa Brennauer (Wiggle High5) as five Team Sunweb riders placed in the top 10 on GC.

Heading into the final stage, Van Dijk had a 7 second deficit to Brennauer, with 18.7km to turn it around. The Dutch rider put in a strong performance to take the stage win, her third of the season, but finished the day just 5″ short of winning the overall with Team Sunweb’s Lucinda Brand and Coryn Rivera in third and fourth respectively.

Speaking after her third win of the season, van Dijk said: “It was a difficult TT to find a rhythm and I didn’t have a super day. Not to take the GC is of course a shame, but I am glad that I could win the TT. As a team we showed that we are at a super high level and we are ready for the second part of the season.”

Team Sunweb coach Hans Timmermans added: “This TT is a perfect reflection on how strong we are at the moment. Of course we still hoped to win the GC, but we also knew that we needed a super Ellen for this and she was good but not super. I am very proud to see that we finish with five riders in top 10 on the stage and on GC.”

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