When he spoke to VeloNation during the Presidential Tour of Turkey, André Greipel sounded less than certain about what support he would have in the Tour de France. With GC contender Jurgen Van den Broeck on the squad, the German was aware that the team directors could chose to send riders to back the Belgian up rather than giving him the best squad for the sprints.
“If my leadout train comes with me to the Tour, then of course we have good chances,” he said in a video interview carried out then. “The last decision is with the team directors. I just hope I can take my guys.”
Two months later, Greipel’s given a thumbs-up to what was announced last week. “I’m especially happy that the team management has fulfilled my wish to have a sprinting squad. We are a very good team and get along excellent outside of the races. The spirit is superb,” he stated.
“With Marcel Sieberg, Jürgen Roelandts and Greg Henderson I have the best and the fastest launching partners next to me. I was able to win seven times in the last four weeks, which made the foundations for our Tour. I was able to show myself as one of the best sprinters. I’m really excited for my second Tour de France.”
Although the 29 year old has been a professional with a big team since 2006, he has only ridden the Tour de France once thus far. A role and personality clash with Mark Cavendish meant that the HTC Highroad team didn’t select him for the race, causing considerable frustration.
He departed from the team prior to the start of the 2011 season and was given a green light by Omega Pharma Lotto to compete in last year’s Tour; he rewarded that faith when he beat Cavendish to win stage ten into Carmaux.
He’s been on better form this year and will hope for greater success, even if he is laying out one sprint victory as the target.
He has already thrown his arms in the air fourteen times this year, winning the Down Under Classic and three stages of the Santos Tour Down Under in January, then netting first in the ProRace Berlin, first on two stages of the Tour of Oman and on a stage of the Tour of Turkey, and also clocking up stages in the Tour of Belgium (three), the Tour of Luxembourg (two) and the Ster ZLM Toer.
While he has the sprint backing he wants, he notes that the team is multi-dimensional. “With Jurgen Van den Broeck and Jelle Vanendert we have two strong guys for the climbs,” he stated. “And with Lars Bak, Adam Hansen and Francis De Greef, we have three all-rounders who will also play a big role in the sprints.”