He’s gone close with two second places in the Santos Tour Down Under, and today André Greipel finally got this 2011 winning campaign off to a start when he sped to victory on day four of the Volta ao Algarve.
The big sprinter blasted home ahead of world under 23 champion Michael Matthews (Rabobank Cycling Team), Anthony Ravard (AG2R La Mondiale) plus the rest of the main field. American rider Tyler Farrar (Team Garmin-Cervelo ) was fourth, while Astana’s Allan Davis was fifth.
Greipel’s victory was the second for his new Omega Pharma Lotto team, following on from the win earlier this week by Philippe Gilbert on stage one of the Portuguese event. He moved to the team after several seasons with the HTC Highroad squad, and hopes to have greater personal freedom with his new setup. Due to the presence of Mark Cavendish on the HTC team, Greipel has missed out on starting the Tour de France; at the same time, the young Briton has been able to clock up 15 stage wins.
Overnight race leader Steve Cummings had an unwelcome surprise today when he crashed in the feedzone and again with ten kilometres to go. He received a bike change, chased hard and was able to get back to the bunch before the finish. He consequently held onto his place at the top of the general classification, holding a six second lead over last year’s race winner Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) heading into tomorrow’s concluding time trial.
German TT specialist Tony Martin (HTC Highroad) is lurking just four seconds further back, while the highly promising young American Tejay Van Garderen is another two seconds behind.
All stayed in the peloton today on a stage which covered 167 undulating kilometres between the coastal towns of Albufeira and Tavira. Six riders clipped away after 20 kilometres, and César Fonte (Barbot-Efapel), Kevyn Ista (Cofidis), Johan Coenen (Topsport), Serguey Lagutin (Vacansoleil), Gregory Rast (RadioShack) and Joaquin Sobrino (Caja Rural) knuckled down to build a maximum lead of four minutes 20 seconds. However despite their collaboration, they were caught with 15 kilometres to go. In the ensuing bunch sprint, Greipel took his maiden win with his new team, starting what he hopes will be a long and successful partnership.
-----
Volta ao Algarve (2.1), Portugal, Feb 16 – 20:
Stage 4, February 19: Albufeira – Tavira:
1, André Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotto) 167.3 kilometers in 3 hours 56 mins 55 secs
2, Michael Matthews (Rabobank Cycling Team)
3, Anthony Ravard (AG2R La Mondiale)
4, Tyler Farrar (Team Garmin-Cervelo )
5, Allan Davis (Pro Team Astana)
6, John Degenkolb (HTC-Highroad)
7, Gerald Ciolek (Quickstep Cycling Team)
8, Boy Van Poppel (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling)
9, Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team)
10, Baden Cooke (Saxo Bank Sungard) all same time
KOM cat 3 (80.7km):
1, Johan Coenen (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) 5 pts
2, Kevin Ista (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) 3
3, Joaquin Sobrino (Caja Rural) 1
Intermediate sprint at Credito Agricola, 33.7km:
1, César Fonte (Barbot - Efapel) 3 pts
2, Sergey Lagutin (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team) 2
3, Johan Coenen (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) 1
Intermediate sprint at Restaurante Picadilly, 86.8km:
1, Sergey Lagutin (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team) 3 pts
2, Kevin Ista (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) 2
3, Grégory Rast (Team RadioShack) 1
Teams:
1, Rabobank, 11 hours 50 mins 45 secs
2, Saxo Bank Sungard
3, Team Garmin-Cervelo
4, HTC-Highroad
5, Quickstep Cycling Team
6, Team Radioshack, all same time
General classification after stage 4:
1, Stephen Cummings (Sky Procycling) 18 hours 27 mins 42 secs
2, Alberto Contador Velasco (Saxo Bank Sungard) at 6 secs
3, Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) at 10 secs
4, Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Highroad) at 12 secs
5, Rein Taaramae (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) at 18 secs
6, Andreas Klöden (Team RadioShack) at 26 secs
7, Ryder Hesjedal (Team Garmin-Cervelo)
8, Simon Gerrans (Sky Procycling)
9, Wout Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team) at 30 secs
10, Tiago Machado (Team RadioShack) at 31 secs
Points classification:
1, Tyler Farrar (Team Garmin-Cervelo) 49 pts
2, Michael Matthews (Rabobank Cycling Team) 46
3, André Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotto) 42
4, John Degenkolb (HTC-Highroad) 39
5, Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) 35
6, Gerald Ciolek (Quickstep Cycling Team) 28
Mountains classification:
1, Ricardo Mestre (Tavira) 16 pts
2, Jarl Salomein (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) 13
3, Wout Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team) 10
4, Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team) 10
5, Stephen Cummings (Sky Procycling) 9
6, Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Highroad) 7
Sprint classification:
1, Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team) 6 pts
2, César Fonte (Barbot - Efapel) 5
3, Johan Coenen (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) 4
4, Arturo Mora Ortiz (Caja Rural) 3
5, Jarl Salomein (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) 3
6, Tyler Farrar (Team Garmin-Cervelo) 3
Teams classification:
1, HTC-Highroad, 55 hours 24 mins 15 secs
2, Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team, at 39 secs
3, Pro Team Astana, at 45 secs
4, Rabobank Cycling Team, at 1 min
5, Sky Procycling, at 1 min 52 secs
6, Cofidis, Credit En Ligne, at 2 mins 2 secs