KEY POINTS:
New Zealand cyclist Joanne Kiesanowski showed that her Olympic preparations are on track when she won the second stage of the Tour de Bretagne Feminin in France today.
Kiesanowski outsprinted American Lauren Franges to win the 114km stage from Hillion to Yffiniac in the Brittany region to also grab the overall lead with two stages remaining.
The Christchurch rider, who will compete in the road race in Beijing next month, leads the tour of general classification by 14 seconds from Franges with another American Alison Powers in third place, one minute 22 seconds behind.
Kiesanowski was well supported by the BikeNZ national team today in the top rating stage race that features the full United States and British Olympic road teams as well as many of the leading professional teams in Europe.
With the help from the New Zealand team - especially Kaytee Boyd and Olympic mountainbiker Rosara Joseph, who finished safely in the peloton today - Kiesanowski went clear with Franges and outsprinted the American to claim the overall lead as well as head the battle for the sprint points.
The New Zealand team, including Yvette Hill-Willis, Sarah Murdock and Kerrianne Torckler, are now second in the team classification, just 7sec behind the US.
The tour ends on Monday (NZT).
- NZPA
