Stage two around the city of Schleiz, saw Alice Barnes in a long-range breakaway attempt. The British rider bridged across to another lone rider, but quickly found herself alone as she was given close to a three-minute lead by the peloton.

“I was expecting some other riders might come across to me, but then I may not have got such a gap,” said Barnes yesterday. Alice Barnes earned the Most Active jersey

“When the gap started coming down and was at 48 seconds, I thought I would be caught soon after but I still kept pressing on. The gap went out again to over 2 minutes and I was caught on the long climb. I found the that climb pretty tough after being on my own for so long and unfortunately I couldn’t stay with the leaders over the QOM.”

After the QOM, Marta Bastianelli and Pauliena Rooijakkers (CCC) went clear, and the duo stayed away until the finish line with a gap of just eight seconds. Elena Cecchini was in the sprint for third place.

“I was feeling good yesterday. I did a very long sprint, but I went early because with the breakaway duo in the front I knew I had nothing to lose. I’m disappointed there was no good cooperation to chase the final breakaway. But my shape is good and today I will try again!” said Cecchini.

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