STAGE 7
Greipel Storms to Fifteenth Victory of Season in Poland
Columbia-HTC’s Andre Greipel has clocked his fifteenth win of the 2009 season afer storming to victory in the final stage of the Tour of Poland.
Greipel finished ahead of Australia’s Chris Sutton and Belgium’s Wouter Weylandt to claim the win - Columbia-HTC’s third stage victory in four days in the Tour of Poland. The German sprint star crossed the finish line in Krakow pointing at his Columbia-HTC jersey as a gesture of thanks to his team-mates.
“This was a very important win for me,” Greipel said afterwards. “It was my last chance here and I really didn’t want to miss it. I’ve made mistakes during the previous stages here in Poland so I was in a bit of a rut, but now I’ve come through.
“It wasn’t an easy finish. Three of my team-mates got blocked when there was a crash with three and a half kilometres to go so I lost my lead-out train. The crash happened just in front of me but I got through it and then I linked up [Columbia-HTC team-mate] Marcel Sieberg with about 1500 metres left to race and he guided me through to the finish.
“Then after Marcel had set things up perfectly for me I wanted to thank my team-mates for all their support.”
“Having Michael in the break helped a lot, we weren’t working for so long from so far out,” pointed out Columbia-HTC’s sports director Tristan Hoffman. “The move never gained much time because a lot of the riders there were high up overall, but it lowered the pressure and Michael did a great job.”
STAGE 6
Edvald Boasson Hagen wins Stage 6 of Tour of Poland
The toughest stage of the Tour of Poland saw Columbia-HTC’s Edvald Boasson Hagen sprint to the team's second victory in three days. After taking a bunch sprint win on Wednesday, on Friday’s short but extremely hilly stage from Kroscienko nad Dunajcem to Zakopane the 22-year-old once again succeeded in crossing the finish line in first place.
The stage was decided in a tough uphill sprint, and the Columbia-HTC rider’s acceleration in the final 200 metres earned him the team’s 65th win of the season.
“It was amazing. Edvald must have won the sprint by at least two bike lengths,” said Columbia-HTC sports director Tristan Hoffman. “There was great teamwork involved in today’s win, too, because we had Michael Albasini in the main break of the day, working really hard. That way the rest of the team could wait for it all to unfold at the finish.”
“Having Michael in the break in the first part of the stage made a big difference,” Boasson Hagen said. “Once I got in a late move I could take advantage of all his good work from before. The final sprint was just the kind I like, as well - slightly uphill. I just waited for [race leader] Alessandro Ballan to go for it, then went past him.”
Boasson Hagen said the slightly different terrain in Poland’s second hill stages had been to his advantage.
“The climbs today were longer and steadier than on Thursday and they suited me better, so I got to the finish feeling good and in a good position. The tactics weren’t that complicated. It was really a question of waiting and watching my rivals right up until the last possible moment, then going for it in the sprint.”
Saturday’s final stage of the Tour of Poland is likely to end in a bunch sprint. Whilst Boasson Hagen recognises opportunities of beating Ballan are likely to be slim, he doesn’t rule it out completely.
“I’ll have a talk with Tristan tonight and we’ll go over the stage, although I think it will be very hard to beat Ballan. But if there’s a chance, you can be sure we’ll take it.”
STAGE 4
Columbia-HTC Takes 64th win of the season in Poland
Columbia-HTC’s Edvald Boasson Hagen sprinted to victory in stage four of the Tour of Poland on Wednesday. At the end of the 239 kilometre stage between Nalecszow and Rzeszow, Boasson Hagen powered across the line for Columbia-HTC's 64th Victory for the season
The 22-year-old Norwegian admitted that his victory in a bunch sprint stage had been unexpected and that his aim had been to lead out Columbia-HTC team-mate Andre Greipel.
“I tried to do the lead-out for Andre but things got a bit stressful in the last corner which was close to the finish,” Boasson Hagen said. “We almost crashed and I didn’t know afterwards if Andre was behind me or not, so I kept going.
“Finally, though, I got the win and it all worked out for the best.”
Team Director Tristan Hoffman is optimistic about the team with the mountain stages coming up.
"We have a couple of options for the General Classification and we're really motivated as a team to try and win this tour," he said.
"We plan to be aggressive and make it a hard race."
Preview
German sprint star Andre Greipel will be gunning for his fifteenth victory of the season in the Tour of Poland, which starts Sunday in Warsaw. "I felt pretty tired during my last race, the Tour of Saxony, even though I won the first stage" the Columbia-HTC rider said. "But since Saxony I've had a bit of a break, just doing a few criteriums, and now I'm ready to go again. If you're a sprinter, in any case, you don't have to be in top shape to win. If you've got good team support, like I have in Columbia-HTC, then normally you can get through ok because you're only going full gas in the last 200 metres."
The Tour of Poland has shifted to August this year from its usual September slot, and Greipel feels that's a change for the better. "When Poland was closer to the end of the season it was difficult for some riders to feel motivated there. But now in August, it's a great way of building up for the Tour of Spain. The weather should be better than in September, too!"
If Greipel gets his fifteenth victory in Poland, his wins will equal his 2008 total, but the sprinter says he is more motivated to win "to be sure Columbia-HTC's hard work getting me to the line is rewarded. It's only fair that the team that puts in the biggest effort gets the victory. Other teams expect us to do a lot of the work because we've got a strong line-up for the overall as well as for the sprints, and I've won quite a bit. But if their sprinters want to have a chance, too, then everybody has to do their share."
"Andre's got some good chances in the first half of the race, but we'll be aiming at the overall as well in the second, hillier part," commented team manager Rolf Aldag.
"This year it's much more mountainous than when it was in September, and that could suit one of our riders like Michael Albasini. If he's racing as well as when he won in the Tour of Austria in July, then he's definitely got a good chance in Poland, too."
Columbia-HTC for Tour of Poland: Michael Albasini (Swi); Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor); Marcus Burghardt (Ger); Andre Greipel (Ger); Adam Hansen (Aus); Craig Lewis (USA); Marcel Sieberg (Ger); Kanstantsin Sivtsov (Byl).
