André Greipel will start his first Tour de France this Saturday, at the age of 28. Greipel has won five races this season and his ready for the Grande Boucle. While disappointed with his fourth place at Nationals, he is eyeing stage wins against the fastest men in the world.
The race in France means a lot to Greipel. "Getting closer to my childhood dream," he wrote on his website andregreipel.de. His Omega Pharma-Lotto team surprised at the Giro d'Italia with a strong showing in the team time trial. At the Tour, it may be a similar target. "We are already in France and we are checking out the time trial course," he said. "The nervousness is increasing, but so is the excitement."
He botched the dress rehearsal, the National Championships. The jockeying for position threw him off on Sunday. "In the hectic final there was a lot of shoulder rubbing and in the last turn, 300 meters from the final, I did not have a good position. If you come out of a turn in such a race in 11th or 12th, you can't win anything," Greipel said.
Like others, Greipel felt the heat. "The course was tailor-made for me. But with three laps to go I started to get cramps, so I could only hope for the sprint."
Greipel can expect more cramps in the upcoming Tour de France. He has a lot of respect for the mountains. "I have that in every race, no matter if it' the Tour de France or the Tour of Austria," he told Radsportnews. "But I am a little afraid of the difficult stage that ends in Alpe d'Huez," he admitted.
His main goal is to make it to Paris, if possible with a success. "I want to win a stage, and hopefully mix it up in the other bunch sprints." The green jersey would be a nice add-on, but the stage win as what he is after. "It is difficult to ride a final halfway in the race and then again in the end. " A rule change gives riders 20 points for crossing the intermediate sprint line first.
Greipel knows that he has to beat a former teammate if he wants to take a stage, Mark Cavendish. "The 15 stage wins in the last three Tours speak volumes," Greipel said. He also mentions Tyler Farrar, Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervélo) and Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) as strong rivals.
Greipel will have good support for the bunch kicks. "With Sebastian Lang, Marcel Sieberg and Jurgen Roelandts as the final leadout I can live very well," Greipel said. On tougher stages he will become a domestique himself, be it for Philippe Gilbert, Jurgen Van Den Broeck or others. "If team management orders me to the front, then I will do that of course."