Lotto Belisol sprinter Andre Greipel showed his sprinting power today, beginning the second part of his season by scooping up a stage win in the Presidential Tour of Turkey.
The win was his sixth of 2012, but his first after taking a break from competition. He’s recharged his batteries and is ready for a big push towards what he plans to be a successful Tour de France campaign.
“I’m here to start my preparation for the Tour de France,” he said at the post-stage press conference in Antalya. “I am quite lucky – after Roubaix I had eight, nine days off the bike. I started racing here again, and I could win directly [straight away] the second stage. So I am quite happy with this.”
The win ahead of new race leader Matt Goss (GreenEdge), Matteo Pellucchi (Europcar), Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) and the rest of the bunch was his seventh career success in the race. The event has grown continuously in recent years and hitting the line first saw him take several good scalps.
Mark Cavendish (Sky Procycling), Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma Quick Step) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin Barracuda) may be missing, but the field includes Goss, Renshaw, Marcel Kittel (Argos Shimano), Andrea Guardini (Farnese Vini Selle Italia), Robbie McEwen (GreenEdge) and Alessandro Petachi (Lampre ISD).
“If you check the list of sprinters here, the Tour of Turkey can be happy that there are so many sprinters here preparing for the Giro or preparing for the second half of the season,” he said, underlining the quality of the lineup.
Prior to today’s win, Greipel’s 2012 victories comprised three stages of the Santos Tour Down Under and two in the Tour of Oman.
He had a frustrating Classics campaign, with five punctures ruining his Paris-Roubaix. However, after a physical and mental break, he’s winning once again and will try to add to his total after getting through the mountains.
Click on the video below to watch the press conference.