LAUREN Kitchen has taken her second UCI win for 2015 with a solo win in stage two at the Tour of Thailand last week.
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With the support of her Hitec Products teammates she also managed to pick up important bonus seconds throughout the stage to find herself leading the tour at days end.
However with a tough fought battle on stage three Lauren slipped to second on the general classification but in doing so claimed her first UCI tour podium result.
"I'm really happy with the way things went this week, to win a stage solo, the way I did was really a very nice moment and shows the training I have been doing is paying off," she said.
"Of course I'm a bit disappointed to not win the tour but to finish on the podium is still a nice ending to the week, I was simply beaten by a stronger rider on the day."
She finished sixth on the final stage in the bunch sprint with Hong Kong champion sprinter, Zhaojuan Meng, taking the stage and stealing the lead by four seconds.
Kitchen will now head back to Europe to take on three dutch classics over the next three weeks where she will ride as a key support rider for the team's sprinter Kirsten Wild.
"The next three races are made for Kirsten, I hope I can be helpful and maybe be a second option for the team if the opportunity arises," she said.
"I'm really thankful for the team's support, all week they rode their hearts out for me, I look forward to riding for them throughout the rest of the season."