Alex Manly makes it a hat-trick at Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour

Australian Cycling Team track and road rider Alexandra Manly has added a third win to her rapidly growing palmarés, taking out stage four of the Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour yesterday.

After Manly won the opening stage in a bunch sprint, Georgia Baker took a surprise victory on Wednesday and Manly conquered the "Hanka-Berg" on Thursday, the South Australian proved strongest again in Schleiz.

From a reduced front group whittled down by the day's climbs, the 26-year-old executed a well-timed sprint to the line, finishing off another dominant performance by Team BikeExchange-Jayco and claiming a personal hat-trick.

The Australian-based squad controlled the race and remained calm and collected even when Manly was caught in a crash and needed a bike change.

It took a long final pull by Aussie teammate Ruby Roseman-Gannon to bring back a lone escapee ahead of the final climb, where Manly stayed calm and timed her sprint perfectly to take her third win of the week, and her career.

“I wasn’t sure I would be able to pull it off today, but the girls were incredible again. That one was a bit of a blur, but I’m so happy to pull it off," Manly said.

"I think maybe with 50km to go, with more of the bergs, my legs started coming good there.

"I was like ‘OK, I can do this – and I need to do it because the girls are sacrificing themselves for me, so you’ve got to finish the job sometimes,'" she said.

There are two stages remaining in the 2022 Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour, and Manly will aim to hold her overall lead to the end.

"I can still lose the jersey, anything can happen. I had a girl crash into me today and I had to stop and do a bike change again, so anything can happen, it’s a bike race. But I’m just going to enjoy it while I’m in it!"

Results: Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour – Stage 4

1. Alexandra MANLY (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) 3h 30min 56s
2. Ricarda BAUERNFEIND (Canyon//SRAM Generation) s.t.
3. Marta LACH (Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling)
4. Femke GERRITSE (Parkhotel Valkenburg)
5. Sanne CANT (Plantur-Pura)
6. Mischa BREDEWOLD (Parkhotel Valkenburg)
7. Greta RICHIOUD (Arkea Pro Cycling Team)
8. Silvia ZANARDI (Bepink)
9. Justine GHEKIERE (Plantur-Pura)
10. Maria Giulia CONFALONIERI (Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling)

Photo: Arne Mill / T.RF GmbH via Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour