German nationals: Klein wins women's road race

Cervélo-Bigla's Lisa Klein won the German national title in a sprint photo finish ahead of Canyon-SRAM's and Lisa Brennauer and Hitec's Charlotte Becker. The 20-year-old, who was fourth in the time trial, was in disbelief after her first professional victory.

"I can't believe it right now. This is a really special feeling. I started my sprint early but I trusted Stephie [Pohl] 100% because she did a perfect leadout for me. Clara [Koppenburg] was fighting the whole day and did a long leadout with 5km to go, she was incredible," Klein said. "It was a team performance; without the team I would not have won. In my career, it's one of the greatest moments, I have no words. It's so crazy.

"I've made some mistakes with gearing in the sprints this year and this time everything was perfect; it was really really amazing. Also congratulations to Nicole, in the race [team manager] Thomas told us through the radio that Nicole won which motivated me. And congratulations to Cille [Uttrup Ludwig] for the time trial title, well done."

The team's general manager Thomas Campana echoed the words of Klien, explaining the result was a full team effort and was proud of his riders for giving it their all.

"The German championships was a win of the team. We didn't get rewarded as much as we wanted from the time trial yesterday but last night after the ITT it was interesting to watch the girls. They came back after the race and said 'tomorrow we will try even harder," Campana said.

"On today's course, everything was possible for us. Clara [Koppenburg] was incredible, she is a real German fighter. She kept coming back and driving the pace. She did a leadout from 5km to go to 1km to go then Stephie [Pohl] took over and perfectly delivered Lisa. It was an unbelievable performance from three riders, they wanted it desperately. This is our team mentality and I couldn't be more proud. It's a well-deserved victory for Lisa. It proves again that we are on the right track by developing young riders, signing them for their character and believing in them."

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