HTC-Columbia’s Ina-Yoko Teutenberg clinched her second successive stage win in the Giro Donne race in Italy on Saturday, bringing her season total of victories to eighteen. Teutenberg was the fastest in the bunch sprint that decided stage two from Sacile to Riese Pio X, a victory which simultaneously confirms her overall lead.

“We had some pretty clear tactics today. We wanted to win the stage and keep the race lead at least up until Sunday’s time trial and that’s exactly what we’ve managed to do,” said HTC-Columbia team manager Ronny Lauke. “One rider made a long individual breakaway but we managed to keep the race under control and with ten kilometers to go we’d brought her back.”

“Ina’s teammates set her up perfectly for a the finish, a 300-meter straightaway with a slight downhill, and she finished off their good work without any problems at all. The team now go into the time trial feeling motivated and confident and we’re pretty sure of a great result.”

Sunday’s stage is a 16.9 kilometer individual time trial, and Lauke is optimistic will see HTC-Columbia’s riders battling for a third victory in as many days. “We’ve got three national time trial champions here – Evelyn [Stevens - USA], Judith [Ardnt - GER] and Emilia [Fahlin - SWE] so we’ve got a lot of different options. And Ina’s got us off to the best of starts, too.”