Credit: Mario Stiehl

Credit: Mario Stiehl

Credit: Mario Stiehl

 

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Greipel takes twelfth win of season in Germany

September 02, 2008

Stage four of the Tour of Germany on Tuesday saw Columbia fastman André Greipel outgun Australian Robbie McEwen and German Robert Forster for his twelfth victory of the season.

A bunch sprint on the stage from Wiesloch to Mainz only became a certainty with six kilometres to go when Frenchman Thomas Voeckler was reeled in - but Greipel was ready to pounce.

“I can’t say I was too surprised I managed to win because we’ve got the strongest team here and I’ve got such strong support as a result.” Greipel said afterwards.
“But it wasn’t the most straightforward to victories. I had a bit of a rough time with a kilometre to go, there were guys all over the place trying to get through and I nearly crashed.”

“Then in the last 500 metres, there were a couple of traffic islands and a sharp corner, which didn’t make it any easier, either.”

“Fortunately [team-mate] Gerald Ciolek guided me through  and gave me exactly the lead out I was looking at.”

“I accelerated away with about 200 metres to go and got the win.”

Greipel now has 12 wins in his 2008, starting back in the Tour Down Under in January and which include a Giro stage  this May, but he says he is not targetting any particular number of victories.

“I just want as many as possible, and to keep the wins coming for as long as possible. The more the better!”

Overall there was no change, with Columbia’s Linus Gerdemann still in control and team-mate Thomas Lovkvist in second place. The Tour of Germany ends in Bremen on September 6th with a 34 kilometre time trial.