Internationale Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen 2011, July 18-24 2011.

Team Australia moved into the lead in the teams classification of the Thüringen-Rundfahrt in Germany after Vicki Whitelaw's podium finish in the tour's second stage.

Sweden's Emma Johansson (Hitec Products-UCK) took the honours after outsprinting the nine-woman breakaway, with Whitelaw claiming second ahead of the Netherlands' Amy Pieters (Skil-Koga), who bumped fellow Australian Shara Gillow off the podium and into fourth place.

Thirteen riders broke away 25 kilometres into the 105km stage through the rolling hills around Greiz, building a maximum lead of almost five minutes heading into the final 15 kilometres. Despite a late attack inside the ten kilometres, the lead group maintained their lead, with Johansson too strong for nine riders who contested the sprint finish.

The victory also gave Johannson the yellow jersey after stage one winner Ina Teutenberg (HTC-Highroad) was in the main peloton which finished over five minutes behind the lead group.

Whitelaw currently sits in fifth overall 14 seconds behind Johansson, with Gillow in eighth a further six seconds behind.

With Team Australia's remaining members Jessie Maclean, Amanda Spratt, Taryn Heather and Ruth Corset also finishing in the main bunch, Australia moved into the outright lead in the teams classification and now holds a 2:38 advantage over the Russian Federation, with HTC-HighRoad 5:10 behind in third.

The Tour continues Thursday with a 98.7km tour around Schleiz.

Source: http://www.cycling.org.au