Tour of Chongming Island: Lorena Wiebes makes it two from two despite electric challenge from Lara Gillespie on stage 2

From the pack sprinting behind, Maggie Coles-Lyster (Human Powered Health) came through for third in front of Clara Copponi (Lidl-Trek).

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Despite the day’s flat profile, there were plenty of attacks in the final 50km with teams desperate to try to find a way to prevent Wiebes from just sweeping this race.

A particularly strong group got a gap into the final 30km, including Femke Markus and Femke Markus from SD Worx-Protime, but the peloton were motivated for another sprint and reeled them back in with 15km to go, setting things up for another sprint.

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“It was a day full of breakaway attempts, but we were always well represented and in control of the race,” SD Worx-Protime sports director Christian Kos said.

“Midway through the stage, a dangerous breakaway went clear, but with Femke Gerritse and Femke Markus we had two riders up front. It didn’t guarantee that we would keep the yellow jersey, but it did put us in a very comfortable position. If the breakaway was caught, we could sprint for the stage win with Lorena Wiebes and keep the yellow jersey. If the break stayed away, we had a fresh Femke Gerritse who could go for the stage victory herself. With fifteen kilometers to go, everything came back together.”

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Winning both the stages so far, WIebes continues to lead the general classification, and with another pancake-flat stage to come on stage 3, she may well take a clean sweep of wins in China.

“It was another great day. Of course, we want to secure the overall victory tomorrow,” Kos said.