On the second of four stages at the women’s elite the victory went again to Belgian Githa Michiels. She won the 54 kilometres long stage, which included the climbs to Reiteralm and Hochwurzen. Her lead wasn’t as big as on day one. “It wasn’t easy for me. I haven’t felt as good as on the first day“, explained the 36-year-old from Edegem. In the overall ranking she was able to increase her lead again, as there were also some changes behind her.

Austrian Angelika Tazreiter was able to jump on the podium with a tough fight. 3:48 minutes behind the Belgian she crossed the finish line in Schladming: “I’m very glad with this result. I was on the edge and I’m very happy, that I was able to deliver reliable performance. It was tough to defend my spot on the whole stage, but I was highly motivated as I saw Githa always ahead of me on the climbs. On the second climb I suffered, but I made it to the finish on second place”, smiled the 31-year-old.

She improved to third place in the overall classification, where Tazreiter is two minutes behind second placed Maria Nisi. The Italian finished again third on today’s stage, 5:18 behind Michiels. Fourth and fifth place went to Germany with Janine Schneider (+ 6:56) and Sabine Spitz (+ 7:37). Together with Estonian Greete Steinberg (+ 9:16), they are the first chasers of Tazreiter in the overall ranking.