Sarah Düster gets Thüringen stage 5 as Adrie Visser disqualified

by Ben Atkins at 3:32 PM EST

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Categories: Pro Cycling, Race Reports and Results

German rouleur awarded stage win after Dutch rider ruled to have sprinted irregularly

Sarah Düster (Cervélo TestTeam) won the fifth stage of the Thüringen Rundfahrt, the Rund um Schmölln, from a breakaway group of three. The German was awarded the victory after stage 3 winner Adrie Visser (HTC-Columbia) was adjudged to have moved off her line in the sprint. Hanka Kupfernagel (German National Team) was second, with Visser relegated to third.

"I'm very happy with my victory today," said Sarah Düster. " I haven't felt that strong during the first few days of this Tour as the heat really got to me. But now, since yesterday as the temperatures have gotten lower I feel good.

“Today, it was tough for me as I had to close so many gaps, but I felt strong. My tactic for the final, which was a light downhill run with a curve, was to stay at the wheel of Hanka Kupfernagel and attack from there. All in all, I am very satisfied with my race and I have also to say thank you to my team mates as they did a really good job for me."

Midway through the 115.8km stage, on the fourth of six 19.3km circuits, an attack from Kupfernagel saw a group of 17 riders break clear. This was reduced to 10 after an attack from Elke Gebhardt (Noris Cycling) halfway through the final lap was chased down. Further attacks split this group further until Düster, Kupfernagel, Visser and Trixi Worrack approached the finish together, pursued by Andrea Bosman and Vera Koedooder (Netherlands National Team) and Petra Dijkman (RedSun Cycling).

Düster was on the front as they came into the finishing straight, but Visser came around to cross the line first. The Dutchwoman was adjudged to have obstructed Kupfernagel though, and was relegated to third place.

Result stage 5
1. Sarah Düster (Ger) Cervélo TestTeam
2. Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) German National Team
3. Adrie Visser (Ned) HTC-Columbia
4. Trixi Worrack (Ger) Noris Cycling Team
5. Andrea Bosman (Ned) Netherlands National Team @ 1s
6 Vera Koedooder (Ned) Netherlands National Team @ 2s
7 Petra Dijkman (Ned) RedSun Cycling Team
8. Julia Martisova (Rus) Gauss-RDZ-Ormu @ 12s
9. Luise Keller (Ger) HTC-Columbia @ 25s
10. Elke Gebhardt (Ger) Noris Cycling Team @ 52s

Standings after stage 5
1. Olga Zabelinskaja (Rus) Safi-Pasta Zara
2. Edita Pucinskaite (Ltu) Gauss-RDZ-Ormu @ 2'56"
3. Noemi Cantele (Ita) HTC-Columbia @ 3'02"
4. Irene Van Den Broek (Ned) Netherlands National Team @ 3'38"
5 . Elena Kuchinskaya (Rus) Gauss-RDZ-Ormu @ 3'53"

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