GREIPEL WINS FOR FIFTH TIME IN TURKEY
April 18, 2010
HTC-Columbia's André Greipel stormed across the line in first place yet again in the final stage of the Tour of Turkey on Sunday, taking his fifth victory of the race, his eleventh win of the season and the team's nineteenth victory of 2010.
In an exceptional week of racing for HTC-Columbia, first year professional Tejay Van Garderen also claimed second overall behind Italy's Giovanni Visconti, a remarkable result for the first year professional. Greipel was seventh overall, and also claimed the overall victory in the points jersey. "It's been one of those stage races where everything fell into place, the team functioned perfectly and it all worked out well: a dream result," said HTC-Columbia sports director Jan Schaffrath. "André's five wins showed he was strong from start to finish, not just in the sprints, but also in the short time trial that opened the race and the hillier stages in the middle."
"I was particularly pleased for Tejay," added Schaffrath. "He did some great riding for André in the Tour of Mallorca and Tour of the Algarve in February, and here he got his own reward. It's very promising for the future. At the same time the team did brilliantly as a whole, although I'd like to single out Frankie Rabon. He crashed three times and got injured but never gave up, working tirelessly for the leaders."
The final stage of Turkey saw Greipel cross the line comfortably ahead of Italy's Angelo Furlan and Dutchman Kenny Van Hummel at the end of a 166-kilometre trek from Antalya to Alanya. "It wasn't too tricky today after we'd controlled things in the first part of the stage," Schaffrath said. "All in all, a final win was a great way to wrap up the week."