Full gas racing in the beginning of Stage 3 of the Lidl Deutschland Tour as they completed 211km with 4 categorised, and many not categorised climbs. The pace eventually settled for the majority of the stage so it wasn’t until we entered the final 10km that the action increased. We saw Sean Flynn sprint for bonus seconds as we crossed the finish line for the first time entering the finishing circuit. It was P3 on the line for Flynn who moves up 2 places to 10th in the GC, by only 1 second. Bunch sprint time and as we rounded the final corner to the finish line, it was Niklas Märkl representing DSM-Firmenich Post-NL to secure 6th, improving on his 7th place sprint finish on stage 1.
“It was a tough day out”, says Niklas Märkl. “We were aiming for the bonus sprint with Sean to move him up in the GC, get a nice Top 10 – which we succeeded. The guys were then bringing me into the final to take the sprint. They did a really really good job, thanks to them, shout out to them.” In the end, it was the last 100m where Niklas found his finishing position: “I was in a good spot the last few 100m, I went round the corner 6th then stayed there. I think it was still a good race but I was hoping for a bit more. There is one more stage tomorrow which I’ve been looking forward to all week because it’s on my home roads so one more shot”