André Greipel stormed to victory in stage eighteen of the Giro d'Italia, taking his twelfth win of the season for HTC-Columbia in a spectacular bunch sprint in the city of Brescia.  The German fastman's powerful last acceleration gained him a comfortable two bike-length margin over second-placed Julian Dean of New Zealand by the finish, and Greipel was so far ahead, he could free- wheel across the line as he celebrated his victory.

Greipel's victory is the second stage win of the 2010 Giro d'Italia for HTC-Columbia, and comes just three days before the race ends in Verona.  "This win took a long time coming, I was sick at the start of the race.  It was very hard at times but I kept on going," a delighted Greipel said afterwards.  "Today has made all that effort worthwhile.  The team trusted me throughout, and today's stage win was the ideal finish for a great performance by the whole squad. I'm very proud of them.  The Giro is certainly ending the way I wanted it to."

"We had our eye on this stage for André for a long time, and although that meant more pressure for him and for the team, we made really sure everything was in place so he could try to win it," added HTC-Columbia sports director Tristan Hoffman.
"There was a breakaway, but we made sure they never had too big a gap ahead, and his team-mates looked after him throughout the stage and kept him out of the wind.  It was his win, but the whole team made a big contribution."

Greipel's victory is the second of his career in the Giro d'Italia and his fifth in a Grand Tour, as well as being the twenty-sixth of the season for HTC-Columbia men's team in 2010.