PORT Macquarie cyclist Lauren Kitchen has finished the Tour of Yorkshire with not only a win in the intermediate sprint stage, but a team truck full of beer.
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Along with the tough course, the peloton also were faced with two days of pouring rain and strong winds along with hail and maximum temperatures of three degrees.
"I was happy to get into the breakaway; it was a really cold day on the bike with the conditions of three degrees and rain," Kitchen said.
"I just focused on trying to take those sprints, but you should have heard my director in my radio when he heard I won the beer sprint."
The races was attended by a top-level peloton, as Yorkshire will host the 2019 world championships in September.
A lot of riders chose to race to get a feel for the conditions they may face later in the year.
Stage one saw Lauren filter the day long breakaway after around 40 kilometres of racing with the front group of six riders coming together shortly after the main climb of the day.
With a team plan to be aggressive, Kitchen rode hard in the breakaway and managed to be first across the line for both sprints on the road, this meant she took three bonus seconds at the sprint in Harrogate and most importantly her height....around two metres.... at the sprint at kilometre 115.
Kitchen's teammate, Emilia Fahlin, sprinted home to ninth place to secure a top ten finish for the stage and a successful day for the team.
"It was a big day out for me, It was hard in the break but it gave my teammates an easier ride behind in the peloton and it was nice to have the opportunity to be at the front of the race after a few races with some bad luck," she said.
Stage two saw the peloton tackle some very steep and challenging climbs in winds of 50 kilometres per hour with the tough day ripping the peloton apart.
Lauren finished in the remains of the peloton with teammate Emilia securing a top 15 in the overall with 13th in the stage and 14th overall.
While the result may not have been the goal, it was a great couple of days with the team and an opportunity to get a feel for Yorkshire and what the world's could be like come September.
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