UAE TEAM ADQ

Karlijn Swinkels misses victory by a whisker. She was narrowly beaten in the sprint by Lucinda Brand.

Karlijn Swinkels misses victory by a whisker. She was narrowly beaten in the sprint by Lucinda Brand in the fourth stage of the Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour, 111.4 km with start and finish in Mühlhausen.

Carlotta Cipressi and Karlijn Swinkels entered the most important breakaway of the day. Excellent work by the young Italian from the UAE Development Team. Then, in the finale, the Dutchwoman tried to win, setting the final corners to perfection, and coming out first on the final straight, but it was narrowly missed. In the comeback she was overtaken by Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek)

Still a very good performance. She will try again in the coming days. Meanwhile, Swinkels climbs to fourth place in the GC.

Karlijn Swinkels said: “For now we are with a small but strong team here. I'm happy to race with the girls from the Development Team. I have to say a big thanks to Carlotta Cipressi. She was really strong and help me a lot. I'm happy to be so close to the win, but I’m looking forward to actually winning a race. Tomorrow the GC will be decided. I will give my all to try to get on the podium again!”.

Tomorrow is the fifth stage, an individual time trial of 31.5 km, in Altenburg. On Sunday the final stage of 105.4 km in Schmalkalden.

(ph. Sprint Cycling Agency)